University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Hosting Opportunities Remain For Tar Heels
May 24, 2006 | Baseball
May 24, 2006
By Adam Lucas
After watching his team sweep a three-game series from Boston College that clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coastal Division title, Mike Fox's voice had dwindled to something less than a croak. He'd been under the weather when the series began; the stress of outlasting a game Eagles squad hadn't helped the situation.
The 5-1 win on Saturday was scheduled to be Carolina's last appearance at Boshamer Stadium this season. But even Fox had to perk up when asked about the prospect of returning home to Chapel Hill for the regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
"That would be huge," the head coach rasped. "Teams that host have a much bigger chance of moving on to the next round. Our kids have done well enough to deserve playing at home. It's a huge accomplishment to play at Boshamer for another weekend or two."
The numbers support his statement--since 2000, only two teams have advanced to the College World Series without hosting a regional or super-regional. The Tar Heels haven't hosted at Boshamer since 1983.
But with a top-five national ranking and Coastal title, plans are being made for the venerable stadium to host a four-team regional beginning June 2. The stadium has already seen swelling crowds this season: only bad weather kept the three-game NC State series from nearing 10,000 in total attendance, and the three-game set with Florida State drew nearly 7,000.
In the event the Tar Heels are awarded a regional (the NCAA will announce host sites on May 28), tickets will go on sale via TarHeelBlue.com that same afternoon. Ordering tickets that same day or early in the week will be the best way for fans to avoid long ticket lines at the event, help fill the stadium with Carolina fans, and guarantee tickets for every game in the regional.
The double-elimination event would be a welcome chance for the Carolina program to spend part of the NCAA Tournament at home. The squad has just one senior, Jonathan Hovis, who has never played a postseason game at Boshamer and has spent his entire career traveling to SEC locations for the NCAA Tournament. In 2003, the Tar Heels were sent to Starkville, Mississippi, where they won a thrilling regional.
Their "reward" was a super-regional assignment in Columbia, South Carolina, where they had lost in a regional in 2002 to the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks eliminated Carolina in the super in 2003 and again in a regional in 2004. Last year's assignment was a trip to Gainesville, Florida, where the Tar Heels went 1-2.
"It's such a huge advantage for the home team to be in front of their fans," Hovis said. "All those trips to Columbia, their fans are very loud and obnoxious. They didn't get in my head, but it might have gotten in the heads of some other guys. To have our fans rooting that hard for us rather than having to go into a place where everyone is against us would be a big plus."
Two potential hosting opportunities remain. Sixteen teams advance from the regionals. Those teams are paired in eight best-of-three super-regionals played at the home sites of one of the participants. Super-regional sites won't be announced until after the regionals, but if the Tar Heels land one of the coveted eight national seeds, they would be in good position to host a super-regional if they advance out of the regional.
It's heady talk as the team heads to Jacksonville for what promises to be one of the best ACC Tournaments ever--eight teams are participating, and all eight have a good chance of making the NCAA Tournament. As soon as that event is over, though, Carolina eyes will turn back toward Chapel Hill.
"You've still got to catch it and throw it even if you're playing at home," Hovis said. "But it would be nice to be in our element. We practice and play there all the time. You know it has to be an advantage."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
