Diamond Heels Host Stanford For First Ever Conference Clash

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Tar Heels will kick off their 72nd season of ACC conference play with a matchup against first-year members Stanford who come to Boshamer Stadium for the first time since 2011.

Carolina comes off a 2024 season that saw them claim the ACC Coastal Division title as well as the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament with the best regular season record at 22-8. The Coastal Division title could be the last ever, as the ACC did away with their division system for the 2025 season as they welcome Stanford and Cal.

SCHEDULE
Game 1: Friday, Mar. 7 - 4 PM - ACCNX
Game 2: Saturday, Mar. 8 - 1 PM - ACCNX
Game 3: Sunday, Mar. 9 - 1 PM - ACCNX

CARDIAC CAROLINA WALKS OFF COASTAL
➤ In their first ranked matchup of the season, No. 4 North Carolina took a walk-off win over No. 24 Coastal Carolina in the bottom of the 11th thanks to a Gavin Gallaher sac-fly.
➤ A Tyson Bass double opened the scoring, his fifth RBI in the last two games. Then a Perry Hargett triple down the left field line tied the game back up in the bottom of the fourth.
➤ With the game tied in extras, Cam Padgett came in and threw two crucial scoreless innings to keep Carolina in it. He was helped out by an incredible relay from Bass to Jackson Van De Brake to Luke Stevenson at home to prevent a go-ahead run from Coastal's Jake Books in the top of the 11th.
➤ In the bottom of that same inning, Van De Brake lifted a single over his Coastal counterpart at second base to start a rally that brought up Gallaher with the bases loaded and the sophomore got it done once again.

AMONGST THE TREES
➤ The Cardinal travel to Chapel Hill with a 10-2 record in tow, having played three seperate four-game series against Cal St. Fullerton, Washington and Xavier.
➤ Sweeps over the Titans and Huskies gave Stanford its first 8-0 start since 2018.
➤ They then went 2-2 against the Musketeers at home, winning games one and three in the quad.
➤ Senior Trevor Haskins took home the ACC and NCBWA Player of the Week awards on Feb. 24 after hitting .389 (7-for-18) with 11 RBIs, five runs scored, two doubles, and three home runs.
➤ Third baseman Rintaro Sasaki came into the season with a lot of buzz, winning Baseball America's Preseason National Freshman of the Year award. So far he is batting .360 with 14 RBIs and 18 hits.
➤ RHPs Matt Scott and Joey Volchko were both named Preseason All-Americans. Both expect to start over the weekend against the Tar Heels.
➤ Volchko played on the 2024 Collegiate National Team for USA Baseball alongside Jason DeCaro, Matthew Matthijs, and Luke Stevenson.
➤ Stanford returned 98% of its innings pitched from last year and all but one start.

BIG TIME BRAWLS
➤ Carolina and Stanford have only faced off three times in their histories, with each contest coming in the NCAA tournament.
➤ Most recently, UNC took back-to-back games in the 2011 Chapel Hill Super Regional to book the program's 9th trip to Omaha.
➤ Hall of Fame head coach Mike Fox's squad survived a 3.5 hour weather delay and a late Stanford rally to win 7-5 in game two.
➤ A strong start from Kent Emanuel and timely hitting for current Colorado Rockies starting catcher Jacob Stallings carried the day for the Tar Heels.
➤ The first ever meeting between the two historically great programs was in the 1999 Palo Alto Regional, a 7-4 win for Stanford that went all the way to the CWS Semifinals that season.

STOKING THE FLAMES
➤ First baseman Hunter Stokely has come out of the gates hot to start the year and nothing's been stopping him as he earned ACC Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career.
➤ The veteran had easily the best week of his collegiate baseball career. 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 is the best batting average and on-base percentage of any six game stretch in his career.
➤ During that stretch he mashed four home runs, which was double the most he'd ever had in one week. His previous high for a full season was six in 2023.
➤ He opened his account with a long ball on Monday in the Jungle at East Carolina that tied the game. The highlight night came the next day against VCU however, when he recorded his first career multi-home run game and his first time hitting homers in back-to-back games since April 2023.
➤ He currently sits on a 12-game hitting streak and ranks fifth in the ACC in batting average (.438).

ARM TALENT
➤ Forbes' team came into the season with a highly acclaimed pitching staff that has done nothing but live up to the billing thus far.
➤ Carolina hurlers have recorded 142 strikeouts on the year, the most the program has put up 13 games into a season since having 144 at this point in 2019.
➤ UNC put up games with 17 and 14 strikeouts back-to-back twice last week alone. The last time the team had 14+ Ks in back-to-back games more than once in the same season was 2008.
➤ The Tar Heels' staff is 10th in the country in walks per nine (2.87), 11th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.74), and 25th in ERA (3.18).
➤ Sophomore stud Jason DeCaro leads the ACC in ERA (0.50, 1 IP/G), innings pitched (18.0), and runs allowed (1). He's also tied for second in wins (3).
➤ Sunday starter Aidan Haugh leads the conference in batter struck out looking (11) and has been tremendous in his last two outings. 18 Ks in 11.1 IP with only four walks and four runs.

STARTING STRONG
➤ The 13-0 start for the Heels is their best since 2013 and just the fourth time in program history they have won their opening baker's dozen.
➤ Only on five occasions has the team started a season on a double-digit winning streak. They've made the postseason in all four previous occurrences with a trip to Omaha in the cards for two of them.

Year	Coach	Start	Finish	Result
2000	Mike Fox	21-0	46-17	NCAA Tourney
1999	Mike Fox	16-0	41-18	NCAA Tourney
2013	Mike Fox	16-0	59-12	College World Series
2025	Scott Forbes	13-0	?	?
2007	Mike Fox	10-0	57-16	College World Series

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Players Mentioned

Tyson Bass

Jason DeCaro

Gavin Gallaher

Perry Hargett

Aidan Haugh

Matthew Matthijs

Luke Stevenson

Hunter Stokely

Jackson Van De Brake