University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: NATE SKVORETZ
Lucas: ECU Rapid Reactions (Regional Final)
May 31, 2026 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from the Chapel Hill Regional final.
By Adam Lucas
1. What a weekend in Chapel Hill. North Carolina is on to the super-regional round after a solid 9-3 win over East Carolina. It's the first time since 2019 that the Heels have gone 3-0 in the regional.Â
2. Sunday was a terrific example of this year's team. Timely hitting mixed with great efforts on the mound and a solid defense. Carolina did a little bit of everything all weekend, and that was enough to advance.
3. Good effort from starting pitcher Folger Boaz, who took the game into the fourth with 3.1 innings of five-hit pitching. In a different scenario, Scott Forbes probably lets Boaz try to fight through the bases loaded with one out jam in which he found himself in the fourth. But this was for a chance to go to the super regionals, so it was time to go to Walker McDuffie. Boaz got a great hand when he left the mound from another very good Boshamer Stadium crowd.
4. And it was a very timely move to McDuffie, because the sophomore entered the game, gave a thumbs-up to the crowd and promptly coaxed an inning-ending double play on the fourth pitch of his outing to preserve an 8-1 lead. McDuffie then gave way to freshman lefty Jackson Rose, who fired four innings of hitless relief to seal the win.
5. ECU went with Friday starter Ryan Towers, but he lasted only into the second, exiting with the bases loaded and nobody out. That brought ace Ethan Norby, who threw 75 pitches in the Pirates' 14-inning win over Tennessee on Friday, into the game. Norby promptly hit Owen Hull with a breaking ball to force in a run. That set up a two-run single from Erik Paulsen (in a very tough left-on-left matchup for the first baseman) to push the advantage to 5-0.
6. It shouldn't have been a surprise that Hull drew a HBP. That was the 106th time a Tar Heel has been plunked this year, a program record. That's the highest figure in the ACC and in the top 35 nationally. The total eventually hit 108 before the end of the game.
7. Love the way Scott Forbes uses his bench. Carter French started the first two games of the regional, but then the Heels went with Rom Kellis V on Sunday. Kellis is hitting almost .500 against left-handed pitchers, and with East Carolina starting Towers, it was a solid fit. No matter what the numbers, though, you're going to need more than nine players to go where the Heels want to go this season, and finding a way to get others in the lineup keeps the reserves ready to perform. French got in the game in the seventh and did exactly what he was asked to do, dropping down a sacrifice bunt.
8. Anyone can have a bad day. But given some of the behavior that has happened around the NCAA regionals, it's fun to watch a team play that, well, just plays. It is, in fact, possible to just play baseball with a minimum of bat-tossing (the Big 12 player of the year was ejected from a game today) and trash-talking (an ACC coach apologized after two of his players were booted from a key regional game). That approach comes straight from the coaching staff, and it's a nice testament to the culture Scott Forbes has created in Chapel Hill. That style of play is not exclusive to Chapel Hill--ECU plays very much the same way--but it's refreshing to watch it at Boshamer Stadium.
9. Carolina's win was good news for the Atlantic Coast Conference, which has not had a banner postseason. Nine league schools made the field of 64, but six of them have already been eliminated, with FSU holding on with a loss. The positive side for the ACC: UNC and Georgia Tech have been two of the most impressive teams in the regional round.
10. The Tar Heels make winning in the regional round look much easier than it actually is. UNC is now 41-8 in Chapel Hill regional games, an absurd .837 winning percentage. Cruising through a regional 3-0 feels like a birthright for Tar Heel fans, but it's not that easy. Top national seed UCLA was eliminated Sunday, four of the top ten national seeds have already lost at least one game, and three of the top 16 seeds are already eliminated as of this writing.
11. Carolina now gets to sit and wait for the winner of the College Station regional, where number-12 national seed Texas A&M is in control with a 2-0 record. Super-regional schedules will be announced later, with series set for either Friday-Saturday-Sunday or Saturday-Sunday-Monday. Stay tuned to goheels.com and all the Carolina baseball social media channels for the latest schedule and ticket updates.
1. What a weekend in Chapel Hill. North Carolina is on to the super-regional round after a solid 9-3 win over East Carolina. It's the first time since 2019 that the Heels have gone 3-0 in the regional.Â
2. Sunday was a terrific example of this year's team. Timely hitting mixed with great efforts on the mound and a solid defense. Carolina did a little bit of everything all weekend, and that was enough to advance.
3. Good effort from starting pitcher Folger Boaz, who took the game into the fourth with 3.1 innings of five-hit pitching. In a different scenario, Scott Forbes probably lets Boaz try to fight through the bases loaded with one out jam in which he found himself in the fourth. But this was for a chance to go to the super regionals, so it was time to go to Walker McDuffie. Boaz got a great hand when he left the mound from another very good Boshamer Stadium crowd.
4. And it was a very timely move to McDuffie, because the sophomore entered the game, gave a thumbs-up to the crowd and promptly coaxed an inning-ending double play on the fourth pitch of his outing to preserve an 8-1 lead. McDuffie then gave way to freshman lefty Jackson Rose, who fired four innings of hitless relief to seal the win.
5. ECU went with Friday starter Ryan Towers, but he lasted only into the second, exiting with the bases loaded and nobody out. That brought ace Ethan Norby, who threw 75 pitches in the Pirates' 14-inning win over Tennessee on Friday, into the game. Norby promptly hit Owen Hull with a breaking ball to force in a run. That set up a two-run single from Erik Paulsen (in a very tough left-on-left matchup for the first baseman) to push the advantage to 5-0.
6. It shouldn't have been a surprise that Hull drew a HBP. That was the 106th time a Tar Heel has been plunked this year, a program record. That's the highest figure in the ACC and in the top 35 nationally. The total eventually hit 108 before the end of the game.
7. Love the way Scott Forbes uses his bench. Carter French started the first two games of the regional, but then the Heels went with Rom Kellis V on Sunday. Kellis is hitting almost .500 against left-handed pitchers, and with East Carolina starting Towers, it was a solid fit. No matter what the numbers, though, you're going to need more than nine players to go where the Heels want to go this season, and finding a way to get others in the lineup keeps the reserves ready to perform. French got in the game in the seventh and did exactly what he was asked to do, dropping down a sacrifice bunt.
8. Anyone can have a bad day. But given some of the behavior that has happened around the NCAA regionals, it's fun to watch a team play that, well, just plays. It is, in fact, possible to just play baseball with a minimum of bat-tossing (the Big 12 player of the year was ejected from a game today) and trash-talking (an ACC coach apologized after two of his players were booted from a key regional game). That approach comes straight from the coaching staff, and it's a nice testament to the culture Scott Forbes has created in Chapel Hill. That style of play is not exclusive to Chapel Hill--ECU plays very much the same way--but it's refreshing to watch it at Boshamer Stadium.
9. Carolina's win was good news for the Atlantic Coast Conference, which has not had a banner postseason. Nine league schools made the field of 64, but six of them have already been eliminated, with FSU holding on with a loss. The positive side for the ACC: UNC and Georgia Tech have been two of the most impressive teams in the regional round.
10. The Tar Heels make winning in the regional round look much easier than it actually is. UNC is now 41-8 in Chapel Hill regional games, an absurd .837 winning percentage. Cruising through a regional 3-0 feels like a birthright for Tar Heel fans, but it's not that easy. Top national seed UCLA was eliminated Sunday, four of the top ten national seeds have already lost at least one game, and three of the top 16 seeds are already eliminated as of this writing.
11. Carolina now gets to sit and wait for the winner of the College Station regional, where number-12 national seed Texas A&M is in control with a 2-0 record. Super-regional schedules will be announced later, with series set for either Friday-Saturday-Sunday or Saturday-Sunday-Monday. Stay tuned to goheels.com and all the Carolina baseball social media channels for the latest schedule and ticket updates.
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