Diamond Heels Ship Up To Face Boston College

BRIGHTON, Mass. - The Tar Heels fly up to warm, sunny Massachusetts for a second straight road ACC weekend, this time facing the Boston College Eagles.

It is the first trip to Brighton, Mass., for Carolina since 2021. UNC won that series 2-1 over a No. 21 ranked BC, taking the Friday and Sunday contests. The win on Sunday came off a ninth inning RBI triple from Danny Serretti, who had also homered that game.

Carolina is 12-3 all-time in road games against BC and 31-6 overall. Carolina lefty pitcher Tom Chmielewski is a native of Needham, Mass., which is just about 15 minutes from BC's campus.

SCHEDULE
Game 1: Friday, Mar. 21 - 3 PM ET
Game 2: Saturday, Mar. 22 - 2 PM ET
Game 3: Sunday, Mar. 23 - 1 PM ET

#17 North Carolina Tar Heels (16-5, 2-4 ACC)
Head Coach: Scott Forbes
Record at UNC: 170-94 (Fifth Season)
Career Record: Same
Career vs. BC: 2-4

Boston College Eagles (9-9, 2-4 ACC)
Head Coach: Todd Interdonato
Record at BC: 31-40 (2nd Season)
Career Record: 486-461-1 (18th Season)
Career vs. UNC: 0-0

SCOUTING THE HIGH FLYING EAGLES
➤ Boston College comes into this matchup against the Tar Heels fresh off two midweek wins.
➤ The first, an 8-3 victory over Sacred Heart on Tuesday, before they took down Northeastern 6-0 on Wednesday. Both games were at home.
➤ Last weekend was spent in Tallahassee taking on Florida State, where they dropped all three to the Seminoles.
➤ The fireworks went off the week before however, as the Eagles took two on the road against No. 9 Virginia. BC won Friday and Sunday with a hectic 16-22 loss sandwiched in between.
➤ BC has had three games canceled or postponed this year.
➤ The one common opponent thus far for this two teams is VCU, with both ACC squads coming out on top.
➤ These teams both like to work the base paths. They are the only ones with two players inside the top-10 in the ACC in stolen bases this season.

RAISING KANE
➤ Carolina's leadoff man has been everything you could want from the position, leading the team in OBP (.524, 8th ACC) and making the most of it.
➤ He has started Carolina off with a base runner in 10 of their games so far this year. 4 HBP, 2 1B, 2 3B, 1 HR, and 1 BB. He's scored on all 10 occasions.
➤ He leads the team in runs scored (26, 8th ACC) and free passes (30) while slugging .560 with only the one home run so far.
➤ With 17-17 stolen bases (most in the ACC, 9th NCAA) through 21 games, he is on pace to have the most SBs in a season since Brian Roberts broke the record in 1998 with 63.
➤ It's the most bases stolen by a Tar Heel through 21 games since Russ Adams had 22 in 2002 and the most attempts without being caught in a row since Adams had 17 to close out 2001.
➤ Kepley ripped his fifth triple of the year against Louisville. He is now over half way to the Carolina single-season record (8: Brian Goodwin, 2010) and he is tied with two others for the most in the country.

RETURN OF THE KNAPP
➤ The impact of the return of Jake Knapp to the Carolina starting rotation cannot be overstated.
➤ The Greensboro, N.C., native was slated to be the Friday starter for the Tar Heels going into the 2024 season before sustaining a season-ending arm injury in the preseason.
➤ "Coach Knapp," as Forbes affectionately calls him, stayed locked in with the team despite his situation, attending every practice, game, and meeting. The coaching staff credits his leadership as a key factor in their run to Omaha in 2024.
➤ 623 days since his last appearance, the second-year captain retook the mound on opening day 2025. He threw three innings, allowing only two hits and racking up three strikeouts.
➤ In just his fourth appearance since the surgery, he threw his first career complete game in a career-long 7.0 inning win over Stanford.
➤ This year has thrown 25.0 innings with 28 Ks, only 5 walks, and is holding a 2.16 ERA (11th ACC). His K-to-BB ratio (5.60) is the 8th best in the ACC.

THE HAUGH HAMMER
➤ Sunday starter Aidan Haugh has been phenomenal to start the season for the Tar Heels, racking up a whopping 32 Ks on 25.2 IP with a 2.45 ERA.
➤ He leads the ACC in batters struck out looking (15) and is 5th in opp. batting avg. (.156) and hits (14).
➤ His 11.22 strikeouts-per-nine would be the best since Austin Love finished with 11.38 in 2021.

STOKING THE FLAMES
➤ First baseman Hunter Stokely has come out of the gates absolutely on fire to start the year for Carolina.
➤ He has seven home runs this year, already surpassing his previous high of six from 2023.
➤ Four of those long balls have been to the opposite field. He only had one oppo homer in his three previous seasons combined.
➤ On the season, he leads the team in batting average (.359), hits (28), and total bases (52).
➤ The veteran had easily the best week of his collegiate baseball career from 2/24-3/2, earning him his first career ACC Player of the Week award.
➤ In six games played, the Wilson, N.C. native slashed .524/.621/1.143 while racking up 11 hits, 11 RBIs, 10 runs, and 24 total bases. It was the best BA and OBP of any six game stretch in his career.

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Players Mentioned

Tom Chmielewski

Aidan Haugh

Jake Knapp

Hunter Stokely