UNC baseball opens NCAAs in the Sunshine State

The North Carolina baseball team can breathe a sigh of relief.

On Monday, the NCAA rewarded the Tar Heels’ 2-2 record in the ACC tournament with a spot in the Gainesville Regional of the championship tournament beginning on Friday.

“We didn’t know we were in until this morning so it’s a great day,” said coach Mike Fox on Monday.

This year, the Tar Heels found themselves in an unusual position — they weren’t a lock to participate in the NCAA tournament.

“I was spoiled to come off last year,” said sophomore outfielder Skye Bolt.

In his first season at UNC, Bolt was a contributor to a team that won a school-record 59 games and was the top-seeded team in the tournament last year.

“I’m not necessarily used to it,” said senior outfielder Parks Jordan.

In his three seasons at UNC, Jordan has been on two teams that have advanced to the College World Series.

“We’re normally used to seeing whether or not we’re a national seed, but it is what it is,” he said.

This year’s selection marks the 15th time in 16 years — and 13 consecutive years — under coach Fox the Tar Heels have qualified for the tournament.

“I think the outcome in the (ACC) tournament was critical for us,” Fox said. “We pretty much had to win, certainly two games, to even get to the situation we’re talking about today.”

The Tar Heels won a tightly-contested first game against N.C. State on May 20, but lost the next two games they played against Florida State and Virginia.

With its NCAA tournament life on the line, UNC took down Maryland in a 13-7 victory on May 24.

The Tar Heels will play Long Beach State (32-24), a team they haven’t faced since 1992, on Friday. The Dirtbags were on the outside looking in, until a 14-3 finish propelled them into the tournament.

“We don’t know a whole lot about them,” Fox said. “We’ve got them on video, which is good. I’m sure they have us as well. We’ll know more about them tonight than we do right now.”

The Tar Heels’ toughest opponent in the region is the Florida Gators, the No. 2 national seed. The Gators (40-21) won the SEC regular season title and lost in the championship game of their conference tournament.

The final team in the region is the College of Charleston (41-17), who beat the Tar Heels in two of the first three games of the season.

“It’s not going to be easy by any stretch,” Fox said. “We’ve got our hands full to say the least. You just gotta keep playin’ and keep playin’ until somebody tells you that you can’t play anymore.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.