UNC baseball one win away from Super Regionals with victory over ECU

North Carolina baseball’s February series against East Carolina ended in a tie. The third game was cancelled due to weather, and never rescheduled. For UNC’s Erik Paulsen, that added a bit of extra motivation entering Saturday’s Chapel Hill Regional matchup against the Pirates.

“Tying that series kind of stunk,” the junior third baseman said Friday. “It’s gonna be a really good opportunity to show them that we’re the better team.”

No. 5 overall seed UNC proved Paulsen right Saturday with a 7-5 come-from-behind win over ECU. With the victory, the Tar Heels (47-11-1, 22-8 ACC) will face either ECU or VCU on Sunday and are one win away from their 13th Super Regional in program history.

North Carolina coach Scott Forbes called Colin Hynek’s three-run homer in the top of the fourth inning the “swing of the game.” After the Pirates struck first, going up 3-0 through three innings, UNC’s graduate catcher tied the game with one crack of the bat.

“That home run kind of let the air out,” Forbes said. “And I saw our dugout as well... I just felt like, after that, our guys settled in.”

The Tar Heels needed to release some tension after a shaky start on Saturday.

In the bottom of the first inning, UNC’s ace Jason DeCaro gave up four hits to the Pirates — all of them had two strikes — and two runs. Entering Friday, DeCaro had never given up a run to ECU in his career and he’d allowed no more than three earned runs in any single outing.

But DeCaro struggled Saturday and was pulled after giving up six hits and three earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched.

That marks the first time in the All-ACC pitcher’s decorated career that he’s failed to reach four innings pitched in two consecutive starts.

But, thankfully for UNC, its offense has steadily improved throughout the course of the season. The Tar Heels have shown a knack to claw back with timely hitting in wins over Clemson and Virginia. That clutch factor, combined with the pitching of freshman Caden Glauber, allowed North Carolina to gain an edge late against ECU.

UNC evened the game in the fourth inning with three straight hits — none more monumental than Colin Hynek’s homer.

In the fifth inning, Paulsen hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Gavin Gallaher, putting North Carolina up 4-3. The Tar Heels tacked on three more runs in the sixth inning thanks to RBI doubles from Jake Schaffner and Gallaher.

Gallaher, who’s earned a reputation for coming through in the big moments, is now batting .523 in NCAA Regionals in his career. He’s hit seven doubles in that span, with his double on Saturday putting UNC up 7-5.

“You don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to level of your training, and I think Gavin’s a great example of that,” said Hynek. “It’s all the work that he puts in, going all the way back into August. It’s not just that he necessarily shows up, and he’s always had a knack for big spots all throughout the year.”

The North Carolina bullpen did its part, too, with Glauber striking out eight batters in 4.1 innings pitched. Glauber came in to relieve DeCaro, and gave up three hits and two runs.

He held ECU scoreless for three of the frames he pitched Satutrday, with his elite velocity once again helping UNC get out of a sticky situation. The win over ECU makes North Carolina 24-0 in Glauber’s appearances on the mound.

The freshman, who is barely 18 and skipped his senior year of high school to enroll early at UNC, said pitching in high-pressure situations throughout the season helped him feel confident on Saturday.

“I think everyone on the team performs their best in the tight situations,” Glauber said. “We had a great team win today.”

UNC sophomore righty Walker McDuffie took over the mound in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game and secure the 7-5 win.

With the victory, North Carolina will play the winner of Sunday’s noon matchup between VCU and ECU. The Tar Heels’ third game of the weekend is scheduled for 5 p.m.

UNC can advance to the NCAA Super Regionals by winning on Sunday evening, or a Monday rematch if necessary.

This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 8:32 PM with the headline "UNC baseball one win away from Super Regionals with victory over ECU."