Baseball Hosts Kansas State For Midweek Clash

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Diamond Heels play host to Kansas State in their first midweek game of the season on Tuesday night at 4 p.m. ET in Boshamer Stadium.

No. 6 Carolina Tar Heels

Head Coach	Scott Forbes
Career Record	157-89 (Fifth Season)
Record at UNC	Same
Career vs. KSU	0-0

Kansas State Wildcats

Head Coach	Pete Huges
Career Record	821-637-3 (28th Season)
Record at KSU	169-145 (7th Season)
Career vs. UNC	1-23

SWEPT OFF THEIR HORSE
➤ North Carolina baseball opened its 135th season with a weekend series sweep of Texas Tech.
➤ UNC won both of its games in an opening day double header before finishing off the weekend with a 4-2 win on Saturday.
➤ It was the 18th time this century Carolina has swept its opening weekend series and the fifth in the last six years.
➤ Pitching was the story for the Tar Heels. A staff that came into the season hyped for its depth and danger showed up strong in week one. The group combined to pitch a 1.67 ERA across the three games with a 4.00 strikeout to walk ratio and an opponent batting average of .196.
➤ Doubles and small ball powered the UNC offense in all three games against talented arms from Texas Tech. Carolina had double the extra base hits without having a homer on the weekend. It was the first time since May 2018 that the team did not have a deep ball in a weekend series and the first case where they had three games in a row without one since April 2021.
➤ The Tar Heels are now 89-44-2 all-time on opening day and have won six of the last seven season openers. They've won their season-opening series for the 12th consecutive year.
➤ It was the first time the program has won two games on opening day dating back to at least 1928.

YOUNG BUCKS BRING THE HEAT
➤ Carolina called upon three true freshmen to deliver in big spots opening weekend and each showed the talent that got them to Chapel Hill in the first place.
➤ First, in the back end of the double header, the Lee County legend Walker McDuffie was the first on the scene. He entered with two runners on and finished with no earned runs, five strikeouts and the win after 3.2 innings pitched.
➤ Ellerbe, N.C. native Camron Seagraves came next, also coming in with two men. He allowed no runs and added two strikeouts in 1.2 IP.
➤ Flamethrower Ryan Lynch took over for Seagraves and turned heads in picking up the win. 4.0 innings of seven strikeout and no walk work is quite the way to make your debut.
➤ Lynch's seven Ks were the most by a Carolina pitcher in their collegiate debut since Max Carlson racked up eight on Feb. 20, 2021.

TRANSFER OUTFIELDERS LEAD THE WAY
➤ The starting outfield for the Tar Heels to start this season is made up of three new faces: Rom Kellis V (left), Kane Kepley (center) and Tyson Bass (right).
➤ The trio also make up three of the first four spots in the batting order: Kepley (leadoff), Bass (2), Kellis V (4).
➤ Their impact on this team was felt immediately both in the field and at the plate as they look to fill the shoes of 2024's excellent outfield lead by Vance Honeycutt.
➤ In game one, Kepley began writing his own legend in Carolina blue by robbing a home run in dead center to keep Texas Tech off the board. The play was good enough to wind up at No. 2 on the SportsCenter Top 10 the next day.
➤ Not to be outdone, Bass made a diving play in game three to deny Tech a leadoff double in the third inning of a two score game.
➤ At the plate, the trio combined for 10 hits, seven runs, and eight RBIs over the weekend. Kepley's .385 batting average leads the team and Kellis recorded a team-best three doubles.
➤ Kepley and Bass at the top of the order have gotten on base in back-to-back at bats four times this season and at least once in every game, leading to five runs for UNC.

NON-CON COMBAT
➤ The Heels have compiled a 79-30 (.725) record in games against non-ACC opponents under Forbes. The 2024 team was 24-6 outside of conference play.
➤ Since 2020, UNC has won nine of its 10 three-game non-conference weekend series with a 23-6 mark in that span.
➤ In his four years prior to 2025, Forbes had only faced a Big 12 opponent three times. He swept two games against West Virginia in last year's Super Regional and lost his only previous contest against the Red Raiders in the Lubbock Regional in 2021.

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Players Mentioned

Tyson Bass

Vance Honeycutt

Rom Kellis V

Kane Kepley

Ryan Lynch

Walker McDuffie

Camron Seagraves

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University of North Carolina Athletics