Chapel Hill Region Preview: North Carolina, LSU, Wofford, LIU

It’s a fascinating group of teams meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina this weekend with the North Carolina Tar Heels, the LSU Tigers, the Wofford Terriers, and the LIU Sharks all looking to advance to the Super Regional round.

With the reigning champs in LSU paired with two mid-major conference tournament winners and a top five team in the country, there’s plenty of momentum on all four sides and confidence to spare. Who will advance in this double elimination bracket over the weekend? The games begin on Friday. Here’s a rundown of what to know about each team in the field.

1. North Carolina

42-13 overall, 22-8 in ACC, ACC regular season champs, No. 4 overall seed

Overview 

The Tar Heels enter this tournament as one of the more balanced teams in the country, ranking in the top 25 in ERA, batting average, and home runs per game. The series losses this year include East Carolina, Virginia, and NC State, with mid-week losses to South Carolina and Coastal Carolina, but over the past month, the Tar Heels are 16-3 and looking like one of the best teams in the country. 

Offense

As a team, the Tar Heels are No. 13 in walks, No. 22 in batting average, No. 20 in home runs per game and No. 14 in slugging, showing a patience at the plate that will make this region’s pitchers work to get them out. Individually, you have seven players with a slugging percentage over .520, with five of those having 13 or more home runs. Casey Cooks and Vance Honeycutt were named to the All-ACC first team with slugging percentages of .688 and.699. The lineup consists of six seniors, two freshmen, and a junior, making them an experienced squad.

Pitching

On the mound, North Carolina ranks No. 14 in ERA, No. 35 in WHIP, No. 52 in hits allowed per nine innings, No 80 in strikeouts per nine innings, and only has two shutouts all year. Two of their starting pitchers were named to the All-ACC second team in Jason DeCaro and Shea Sprague, with two more named to the third team in Matthew Mattthijs and Dalton Pence.

A closer look at the two aces, DeCaro is a true freshman righty who had a 3.8 ERA in 14 starts with 64 strikeouts to 34 walks. Sprague is a left-handed junior transfer from Elon who started 12 games and had a 4.02 ERA, allowing more contact,but only had 14 walks on the year to 55 strikeouts.

2. LSU

40-21 overall, 13-17 in SEC

Overview 

Winners of seven in a row before losing to Tennessee 4-3 in the SEC championship game, the reigning national champs enter the regional with loads of confidence and enough talent to back it up. Coming off of dominant wins over Georgia and Kentucky, the Tigers view themselves as one of the best teams in the country. The top-end talent of Tommy White, Gage Jump, and Luke Holman will lead the way as the Tigers look to make a run in Chapel Hill.

Offense

The Tigers have had their ups and downs at the plate this year. As a whole, the numbers won’t overwhelm you, 124th in batting average, 24th in walks, 33rd in home runs per game, and 50th in slugging. There’s power with Tommy White and Jared Jones, but Hayden Travinski is the only other player with double digit home runs. The hope for LSU is it can continue the strong showing it had in the SEC tournament where it posted 46 runs in five games with several names stepping up like Josh Pearson, Steven Milam, and Michael Braswell. 

Pitching

The Tigers have potentially the two best starters in this region with Luke Holman and Gage jump. Holman was incredible throughout the year, with a 2.54 ERA and 116 strikeouts to 32 walks in 85 innings pitched and 15 starts. Jump had 14 starts with 73.2 innings, totaling 79 strikeouts to 20 walks and an ERA of 3.42. Behind those two, LSU will be tough to beat i the first two games of the tournament.

From there, it gets a bit inconsistent with Thatcher Hurd and Nate Ackenhausen, but Griffin Herring has been an excellent reliever with a 1.88 ERA in 43 innings pitched. As a team, LSU is 20th in ERA, 10th in hits allowed per nine innings, 4th in strikeouts per nine innings, and 17th in WHIP. 

3. Wofford

41-18, 12-8 in SoCon, SoCon Tournament Champions

Overview 

In order to get here, Wofford had to win seven games in five days in the SoCon Tournament, including wins over UNC Greensboro, East Tennessee State, and then two over Samford on Sunday to punch their ticket, that’s four top 100 RPI wins in three days. Woffird has jumped up to No. 46 in the RPI, above the likes of Texas and Auburn and enter this regional with a puncher’s chance because of their potency at the plate.

Offense

Wofford ranks as the No. 3 team in the country in batting average and on base percentage, as well as being 9th in the country in stolen bases per game. The Terriers get runners on base and are eager to get them in scoring position which can put stress on opposing pitchers and defenses. The power is inconsistent as Wofford ranks 112th in home runs per game and 43rd in doubles per game, but overall, the lineup has great balance with seven players slugging .500 or better on the year.

First-team All-SoCon selection Marshall Toole is a fascinating player in the lead off spot with a .383 average, 15 doubles, 10 triples, nine home runs, 37 walks and 42 stolen bases on 45 attempts. Catcher Daniels Jackson was the SoCon freshman of the year and is batting .362 with 12 home runs. Third baseman Dixon Black was also named to the all-conference first team with a .368 average, 13 home runs, 45 walks, and 75 RPIs.

Pitching

Sophomore Zac Cowen was named to the SoCon all conference first team and was the only pitcher to receive any honor. Cowen is their ace, pitching 104 innings this season, 32 more than anyone else, and maintaining a 3.55 ERA with three complete games. He had 118 strikeouts to 28 walks and only allowed eight home runs. This is likely who the Tigers will face on Friday in game one. AS a team, Wofford ranks 116th in ERA, but is 26th in strikeout-to-walk ratio, showing an attacking mentality on the mound.

4. Long Island

33-23 overall, 24-9 in Northeast Conference, NEC Tournament champions

Overview 

It took back-to-back wins over No. 1 Sacred Heart to clinch a spot in the tournament and now Long Island starts off with North Carolina on the road. The Sharks were swept by FIU to start the year, then lost two out of three to Miami and then got swept by Radford. The non-conference schedule was not fun, but LIU at least found its footing in conference play winning 24 games.

Offense

LIU enters the postseason ranked 185th in batting average and 116th in home runs per nine innings, but the Sharks have three players with slugging percentages over .530 in their lineup and can bring in runs if they get base runners. First-team All-NEC selection Jake Mastillo carries a lot of the weight in this order with 16 home runs and 14 doubles with a .305 batting average as a senior. 

Pitching

Garrett Yawn is a senior right handed pitcher who was selected to the NEC first-team all-conference and has a strong year with 90.1 innings pitched, a 4.08 ERA, and 104 strikeouts to 42 walks. Dominic Peto and Jared Hughes round out the weekend rotation, but both have ERA’s over six on the year. The bull pen has some capable arms, but LIU clearly looks to rely on its starters.