Baseball On The Road To Face No. 23 Notre Dame

Friday, March 27

South Bend, Ind.

4:30 PM ET

North Carolina

Notre Dame

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

March 26, 2026 | Baseball

Game Notes

By: William Soulé

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Diamond Heels pile back onto the plane for a quick trip up to South Bend, Ind., to face the newly ranked No. 23 Notre Dame.

It will be the first ranked on ranked matchup for the Heels this season and the first road ranked series since they toppled No. 2 Florida State in Tallahassee last year. A relatively young all-time series between these two programs with 88% of their games coming in the last 11 years, it is one of the few matchups that does not historically favor Carolina. Notre Dame holds a 12-13 advantage, but the Heels have won the last three thanks to a sweep in Chapel Hill in 2024.

SCHEDULE
Game 1: Friday, Mar. 27 – 4:30 PM – ACCNX – Live Stats
Game 2: Saturday, Mar. 28 – 2 PM - ACCNX – Live Stats
Game 3: Sunday, Mar. 29 – 1 PM - ACCNX – Live Stats

No. 13 North Carolina Tar Heels (21-4-1)(6-3 ACC)
Head Coach: Scott Forbes
Record at UNC: 221-108-1
Record vs. Notre Dame: 6-4

No. 23 Notre Dame (15-6)(6-3 ACC)
Head Coach: Shawn Stiffler
Record at Notre Dame: 104-76
Record vs. UNC: 3-12

PROJECTED STARTERS
Friday: RHP Jason DeCaro vs. RHP Jack Radel
Saturday: RHP Ryan Lynch vs. LHP Caden Crowell
Sunday: LHP Folger Boaz vs. RHP Ty Uber

SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: ND 12-13
Current Streak: W3
Chapel Hill: 5-4
Away: 4-8
Neutral Site: 3-1
First Meeting: March 31, 1956

BATTLE FOR THE ONE TRUE CAROLINA
➤ Opportunistic offense paired with the program's signature shutdown pitching staff powered Carolina baseball to a 9-1 win over South Carolina on Tuesday night at Truist Field.
➤ The Heels found themselves in a pitcher's duel until a six-run seventh inning blew the game wide open. The 12 strikeouts from UNC arms made it eight different double-digit punchout contests this season.
➤ Starter Boston Flannery had arguably his best outing at UNC with 3.1 solid innings with five strikeouts.
➤ Bullpen ace Walker McDuffie followed Flannery and was somehow even more impressive. In his 2.2 IP, McDuffie gave up just one hit with zeroes in the run and walks column. At one point he struck out five in a row and finished with seven total in the nine batters faced. Both pitchers tied career highs with their v.
➤ Gavin Gallaher's fifth homer of the season and an Owen Hull safety squeeze that scored Gallaher highlighted a Carolina offense that preyed a shaky Gamecocks bullpen down the stretch.

HULL FAMILY HISTORY IN SOUTH BEND
➤ Starting outfielder Owen Hull has an athletic bloodline that run deep, all the way back to his grandfather who played running back at Notre Dame.
➤ George Hull, Owen's father's father, was a member of the Fighting Irish football team "sometime in the early 1940s" for what ended up being a brief time, spending only his freshman year in South Bend before he enlisted in the U.S. Navy to go fight in World War II.
➤ Owen credits his athleticism to his grandfather, who was known as a "physical player with a lot of speed."

JUST A COUPLE OF WEST DES MOINES HOOPERS
➤ Suddenly a hot bed of high-level athletes, Dowling Catholic High School has produced our own Cooper Nicholson as well as only slightly more famous women's basketball superstar, Caitlin Clark.
➤ As a freshman, Nicholson was on the men's team at Dowling. Part of the routine would be for his freshmen squad to practice against the varsity women's team.
➤ In these scrimmages, it was often Nicholson's unfortunate assignment to have to guard the two-time Gatorade Player of the Year. Safe to say this didn't go particularly well for the young Nicholson.
➤ "She's basically what made me realize basketball wouldn't be my sport."

THAT DUDE DECARO
➤ Carolina's superstar junior has carried the weight of high expectations since the then 17 year old made his first start in the first midweek of 2024 before moving into the weekend rotation by week three. Eventually elevating himself to be the Friday guy.
➤ Named a Freshman All-American with a 3.81 ERA and a 6-1 record as he helped the team to Omaha. He got the start for UNC's College World Series opener against Virginia, striking out six and giving up just one run as the Heels took a 3-2 victory.
➤ He was just as dominant in 2025, earning second team All-ACC honors for the second straight year as a staple in the weekend rotation once again.
➤ The North Port, N.Y. really turned it on down the stretch. He was sensational, going 6.0 IP with just one run allowed, in an 11-1 run-rule at No. 2 Florida State. Then, two weeks later, he would out duel eventual top-10 pick Kyson Witherspoon to lead Carolina to a pivotal 11-5 win in the regional.
➤ He's been electric thus far in 2026, becoming just the sixth Tar Heel to start back-to-back Opening Day games since 1999.
➤ In week two against ECU, he tossed a complete game eight-inning shutout with seven strikeouts while only allowing five hits and one walk. Only two ECU runners even managed to reach third.
➤ It was the team's first eight inning complete game since Kent Emmanuel against Miami in May 2013 and only the second time over the last 12 seasons a Carolina pitcher has thrown eight or more shutout innings on the road (Austin Bergner, May 2019).