The mayhem begins on Friday afternoon, as 64 college baseball teams begin their chase for the elusive College World Series.
Your North Carolina Tar Heels, which earned the NCAA Tournament’s fifth overall seed, begin their chase at 5 p.m. Friday against the VCU Rams.
UNC (45-11-1, 22-8 ACC), which lost to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament Championship, hosts a loaded Chapel Hill Regional that also includes East Carolina and 2024 CWS champion Tennessee. North Carolina went 1-1-1 vs. ECU in February, dominating in Greenville, before a big loss in Durham and tie at Boshamer Stadium.
Three days after facing one of their in-state rivals, the Diamond Heels battled VCU (41-23, 24-10 Atlantic 10), winning 13-3 in seven innings. The Rams are now in a much better position, with three consecutive victories to win their conference tournament, plus they know Chapel Hill well.
UNC and VCU have a fairly sizable history dating back to 1997. North Carolina holds a 20-4 advantage in the all-time series, including seven straight wins. The 2022 NCAA Tournament also featured a few Diamond Heels-Rams matchups: VCU won 4-3, before UNC took two straight to win its own Regional.
North Carolina’s offense paved its way to the ACC Championship game, while starting pitching struggled across three games. The Rams totaled 58 runs across six A-10 tourney games, making themselves a dangerous out for any team.
As you prepare to clock out of work Friday and watch postseason baseball, keep reading below for this NCAA Tournament matchup with broadcast information, UNC’s key to victory, picks and players to watch from both teams.
What channel is the UNC-VCU NCAA Tournament baseball clash on Friday? Time, TV schedule, radio
TV Channel: ESPN+
Time: Friday, May 29 at 5 p.m.
Radio: GoHeels.com
Website: WatchESPN
UNC’s Key to Victory
Jason DeCaro needs to pitch deep into the game.
Teams who go deep into the NCAA Tournament usually have fresh pitchers. That entails starters going deep, with coaches only using a couple bullpen arms per game.
DeCaro is UNC’s best starting pitcher by a wide mile, but he struggled Friday against Virginia Tech, a rare outlier. VCU can mash and will almost certainly test DeCaro’s length.
If North Carolina wants to beat the Rams a second time this season, DeCaro needs to pitch well – and deep – into Friday’s opener between both teams.
UNC vs. VCU prediction, picks
UNC and VCU will end Day One of the Chapel Hill Regional, playing after ECU and Tennessee kick things off at 12 p.m.
North Carolina will play in front of what fans can expect to be a majority-Carolina Blue Crowd. The Rams are just 10-14 away from Richmond, but 6-2 in neutral-site games.
The Diamond Heels are eager to respond from Sunday’s big loss. The Rams are trying to show they can beat top teams.
In what proves to be an offensive slugfest, UNC wins big and advances to face the Tennessee-ECU winner on Saturday evening.
Score prediction: UNC 13, VCU 8
Players to Watch from UNC
C Colin Hynek: .273 batting average, 56 hits, 40 runs scored, seven home runs, 50 runs batted in, 25 walks
OF/C Rom Kellis V: .327 BA, 17 hits, 8 runs scored, 4 HR, 18 RBI, 4 BB, .615 slugging percentage
SP Jason DeCaro: 10-2 win-loss record, 2.30 earned run average, 74 1/3 innings pitched, 74 strikeouts, .242 BAA
RP Jackson Rose: 3-0, 2.82 ERA, 38 1/3 IP, 35 K, .197 BAA
Players to Watch from VCU
C Jacob Lee: .342 BA, 77 hits, 64 runs scored, 17 HR, 56 RBI, 42 BB, .640 SLG% (all lead VCU)
UTIL Dante DeFranco: .283 BA, 65 hits, 51 runs scored, 4 HR, 35 RBI, 29 BB, 15 stolen bases
SP Patrick Steitz: 7-3, 3.01 ERA, 92 2/3 IP (leads VCU), 83 K, .223 BAA
RP Zach Peters: 8-1, 1.60 ERA, 24 appearances (leads VCU), 85 K (leads VCU), .156 BAA
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: NCAA Baseball Tournament: UNC-VCU game preview, info, prediction