University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Regional Baseball Notebook
May 30, 2019 | Baseball, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
The North Carolina baseball team might be just four days removed from claiming the seventh ACC Tournament title in program history. But with NCAA Tournament play looming, the Tar Heels have already shifted their focus.
"You've got to put last week behind you and know what's coming," Mike Fox told reporters on Thursday. "It really is a new season. I feel good that we have a large number of players in that locker room who have been through two regionals here already and know what it's all about and can prepare themselves and more importantly help prepare their younger teammates who haven't been through it before. This group is pretty good about that.Â
"I think they want to be known as more than ACC champions. So you've gotta be ready for the next round."
That begins at 2 p.m. Friday, when UNC faces UNCW in the opening game of the Chapel Hill Regional. Joining Carolina and the Seahawks in the regional are No. 2 seed Tennessee and No. 3 seed Liberty. The Tar Heels, the No. 14 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, will look to outlast all three in hopes of keeping their College World Series aspirations alive.
The last two times UNC won the ACC Tournament – in 2007 and 2013 – it made it to Omaha. For Carolina to continue that streak, Michael Busch said continuing to practice at a high level will be crucial.
"I think that's what we did last week, and I think maybe we felt a little too comfortable in practices in previous weeks," Busch said. "We have a group of guys who we go out there and we practice as hard as we can every day. I feel like it was more the way we practiced last week was a big reason why we won four straight games.Â
"We practiced the same this week, and I think everybody is feeling comfortable and confident."
Sorting out the rotation
Fox announced Thursday that Tyler Baum will start against UNCW on Friday.
Baum (7-3, 3.76 ERA) has served as the Tar Heels' Friday starter for a majority of the season. In his most recent start against Virginia on May 22, the junior right-hander allowed two runs and five hits over 7 1/3 innings, marking the 13th time in 14 starts that he's gone at least five innings.
Fox said Saturday's starter is to be determined.
"We have an idea of who we'll start if Friday goes to plan, but right now we feel like we need everybody available for Friday," he said. "We certainly have a plan, but we're just not going to announce it right now."
Austin Bergner (5-1, 5.48) has been UNC's No. 2 starter for much of the season and dominated at times, no more so than when he tossed eight shutout innings at Pittsburgh on May 11. But in his two starts since then, he's surrendered 10 total earned runs over 4 2/3 innings.
If Bergner doesn't start Saturday's game, Will Sandy (2-2, 6.04) might. The freshman left-hander moved from the bullpen into the starting rotation in March and allowed one run across three innings against Boston College last Saturday.Â
Other potential starters include Austin Love (6-4, 3.20 ERA) and Connor Ollio (3-1, 4.08 ERA). Love leads Carolina in appearances (32) and surrendered just one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings of relief against Miami last Friday. Ollio moved into a midweek starter role in April and started the ACC Tournament championship game against Georgia Tech on Sunday.
"That helps seeing Austin extended and throwing that many pitches late in the season," Fox said. "It's a credit to him, for one, in being able to go out there and do it, which he hasn't done all year. And actually we've had thoughts of that throughout the year at certain times; we always think about if we should change roles.Â
"It worked out pretty much how we wanted it last week so it gave us a glimpse of who can do what."
Ideally, the Tar Heels' starters manufacture long enough outings to avoid exhausting their relievers.
"Do we need our second guy to go out there and our third guy to go out there and give us a chance to win for 4-5 innings?" Fox said. "Absolutely. You can't win a championship without it. That's going to be the key. I think every coach probably would tell you they don't want to get deep into their bullpen in Game 1, so that puts a lot of pressure on those starters for all four teams to try to give you six or seven innings.Â
"In a perfect world, we'd throw two guys Friday. Well, in a perfect world, I guess we'd throw one. So we'll see."
Familiar foes
Friday's game will mark UNC's third against UNCW this season. Carolina took the previous two against the Seahawks, winning 4-3 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 26 and 11-4 in Wilmington on March 13.
Should the Tar Heels face Liberty, that game would also be their third against the Flames. UNC lost 2-0 in Lynchburg, Va., on March 19. It then avenged that defeat with a 11-5 victory on April 30 at Boshamer Stadium.
Fox said he was unsure if the previous meetings with UNCW and Liberty will have any impact on this weekend's games.
"They are just as familiar with us as we are with them after watching them," Fox said. "You watch a lot of tape and watch a lot of their relievers. I think the hitters knowing their pitchers and vice versa. Familiarity can help or hurt at some point. I think it's pretty much a new season, though, in that regard."
Dylan Harris agreed.
"They're trying to beat us in the middle of the year and we're trying to beat them," he said. "Now it's going to give them even more motivation to be able to put North Carolina out in a regional, especially when we're hosting. Even teams you beat earlier in the season I don't think you can take them with a grain of salt at all, especially when they can put you out at home. So we won't look down on them at all."
Busch's hot hitting
Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 24 prospect in the MLB Draft, Busch will have the chance to become Carolina's 23rd first-round selection when the draft begins Monday.Â
But the junior outfielder/first baseman isn't concerned about that. Instead, he's focused on cherishing the moments he has left with this year's team.
"This is postseason baseball Round 3 for me," Busch said. "For me, it's been some of the best times I've had, this month or so. When you get out of school, it's just baseball, especially when you have postseason baseball and it's win-or-go-home. I think it's what every athlete who is playing in this tournament plays for. You love those moments."
Busch enters the NCAA Tournament on a 32-game on-base streak. The last time he didn't reach base was against Duke on March 29. Since then, he's slashing .302/.431/.612 with a 1.044 OPS.Â
Busch was at his best during the ACC Tournament, when he batted .421 (8-for-19) with a double, a triple, three home runs and five RBIs. That earned him tournament MVP honors. But he doesn't plan on entering Friday's game with any more confidence than usual.
"Just gotta reset again like I did after I struggled for a couple of weeks there," he said. "Baseball is a tough sport and sometimes things don't go the way you want them to. But I try to do the same thing – reset and not get too high on myself after last week and just stay composed."
