North Carolina Tar Heels

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Los Angeles – UCLA | Atlanta – Georgia Tech | Athens – Georgia | Auburn – Auburn | Chapel Hill – North Carolina | Austin – Texas | Tuscaloosa – Alabama | Gainesville – Florida | Hattiesburg – Southern Miss | College Station – Texas A&M | Tallahassee – Florida State | Lawrence – Kansas | Eugene – Oregon | Morgantown – West Virginia | Lincoln – Nebraska | Starkville – Mississippi State

North Carolina enters the 2026 NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 national seed with a 45-11-1 record — the program’s highest victory total in years under sixth-year head coach Scott Forbes, the ACC Coach of the Year. The Tar Heels have won with balance all season, combining a pitching staff that ranks seventh nationally in ERA with a portal-rebuilt lineup that has no soft spots and a .980 fielding percentage that leads the ACC. They have won back-to-back series over Georgia Tech and are the only team in the field that beat the No. 3 national seed during the regular season.

The story of this team’s construction is the transfer portal. Forbes added shortstop Jake Schaffner (North Dakota State), center fielder Owen Hull (George Mason), catcher Macon Winslow (Duke), first baseman Erik Paulsen (Stony Brook), and third baseman Cooper Nicholson, and all five have produced at or above their preseason projections. The result is a lineup that does not have a clear out from top to bottom — a rarity in college baseball. Combined with a pitching staff featuring three legitimate arms with sub-2.00 ERAs entering the postseason, UNC is built to win a regional, a super regional, and make noise in Omaha.

A Portal-Built Lineup With No Weaknesses Top to Bottom

UNC’s offense is not built around a superstar — it is built around depth, approach, and situational execution. Owen Hull leads the team with a .373 batting average and has shown unexpected power late in the season, hitting a 466-foot homer at UNCW and a 423-footer in the series opener at NC State. Jake Schaffner is hitting .468/.563/.688 in ACC play — numbers that would rank among the best in any conference — and has stolen 23 of 26 bases on the year. Cooper Nicholson provides the team’s most raw power with 13 home runs and leads the team in OPS at 1.060, edging Hull.

The lineup’s versatility is its greatest strength. Macon Winslow (Duke transfer) gives them a patient, powerful catcher hitting .306 with 9 home runs. Erik Paulsen (Stony Brook transfer, Freshman All-American in 2024) provides a reliable left-handed bat at first base. Gavin Gallaher has added pop in the middle of the order down the stretch. UNC has a 7-0 record in one-run games and extra-inning contests this season — a direct reflection of how this lineup performs in high-leverage situations.

Three Sub-2.00 ERA Arms and the ACC’s Best Freshman Arm

This pitching staff is the reason North Carolina is a legitimate national title contender. Junior ace Jason DeCaro — a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist and Howser Trophy nominee — leads the team at 9-2 with a 1.91 ERA. His 6-5, 230-pound frame and four-pitch mix that generates elite ride on a low-90s heater make him a legitimate top-of-the-rotation arm at the next level. Behind him, freshman right-hander Caden Glauber has been a revelation — 7-0 with a 1.84 ERA and the ACC’s best ERA among all qualified pitchers, drawing immediate SEC portal interest for next offseason despite being a true freshman. Both have been named Howser Trophy semifinalists.

The bullpen is equally deep. Sophomore Walker McDuffie has been the team’s primary late-inning weapon, posting a 2.60 ERA with four saves across 52 innings of high-leverage work, featuring a devastating slider that generates consistent swing-and-miss. Freshman lefty Jackson Rose (1.57 ERA, 34.1 IP) gives Forbes another trusted option. The staff’s 3.50 ERA ranks seventh nationally and the collective efficiency — opponents hitting just .234 against this group — is a testament to Forbes’s pitching development system at Boshamer.