NCAA baseball tournament field is set. UNC, Wake Forest, ECU schedules; NC State misses cut
North Carolina and East Carolina will host NCAA tournament regionals after winning their conference tournaments.
The Tar Heels, (38-19) who defeated N.C. State to win the ACC title on Sunday, will take on Hofstra (30-21) Friday at 2 p.m. in Boshamer Stadium. VCU (40-18) and Georgia (35-21) will meet at 7 p.m. in the Chapel Hill region.
It’s the 12th time the Heels, the No. 10 overall seed in this year’s field, have hosted a regional, but the first for second-year coach Steve Forbes.
“Anytime it’s your second time doing something, you feel more comfortable,” Forbes said. “I feel like we’re playing a lot better. I feel like our guys are extremely confident at this point. And I feel like we’re more complete.”
Carolina received a bid last year to the NCAA tournament but did not make it out of the regional. Playing at home, where it had a 29-6 record this season, should help change that.
“It’s got to mean something, playing in Boshamer Stadium,” Forbes said. “We’re good at the Bosh and our guys know what our expectation levels are and what our program’s expectation levels are and it’s right here for your taking, then go get it.”
The winner of the Chapel Hill regional will advance to face the Stillwater regional winner, which is led by No. 7 overall seed Oklahoma State.
Meanwhile, the Wolfpack (36-21) was not among the 64 teams selected after making it to Omaha a year ago. N.C. State was one of the first four teams out. Mike Buddie, Army’s athletic director and the NCAA D-I Baseball Committee Chair, said N.C. State’s non-conference strength of schedule looked “different” from some of the final teams that made it into the field.
“In their 10 ACC series they won four of those 10,” Buddie said Monday on the ESPN2 selection show. “Only one of those four series that they won was against a team that was in the field.”
East Carolina (42-18), the No. 8 overall seed, will host a regional for the fourth year in a row. It’s their 32nd NCAA tournament appearance. ECU, which beat Houston, 6-1, in the AAC title game, will take on Coppin State (24-28) out of the MEAC. It’s the first NCAA tournament trip for the Eagles. Virginia (38-17) and Coastal Carolina (36-18-1) will also be in Greenville.
Wake Forest (40-17-1) is in the College Park regional and will take on UConn (46-13).
The Regionals are June 3-6, which is a double-elimination format. Regional winners advance to the Super Regionals, which are a best two out of three format. The eight Super Regional winners move on to the College World Series, which starts June 17 in Omaha, Neb.
Staff writer C.L. Brown contributed to this story.
This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 1:00 PM with the headline "NCAA baseball tournament field is set. UNC, Wake Forest, ECU schedules; NC State misses cut."
