The 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament is set and with that comes the Regional matchups. North Carolina was awarded the fourth overall seed in the tournament, and will host LSU, Wofford, and LIU. Here’s a brief overview of each team along with a prediction for who will advance to the Super Regionals.
#1 North Carolina Tar Heels
UNC went 42-13 with a 22-8 record in the ACC. They recorded a 32-2 record at home and earned their 13th hosted Regional in program history. The Tar Heels have been playing some really good baseball as of late, and look to use the home-field advantage to advance to the Supers.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Vance Honeycutt – .319 BA, 1.118 OPS, 69 H, 22 HR, 58 RBI, .699 SLG, 28 SB
Parks Harber – .351 BA, 1.114 OPS, 71 H, 20 HR, 60 RBI
Casey Cook – .345 BA, 1.088 OPS, 76 H, 18 HR, 76 RBI
#2 Louisiana State Tigers
LSU is coming off of a loss in the SEC championship to Tennessee, but are back on the quest for a second consecutive national title. The Tigers went 40-21 but 13-17 in the SEC this season. However, they got hot in the SEC tournament before taking a 4-3 loss to top seeded Tennessee. This LSU team is experienced in the postseason, and are looking to do damage in the Regional again.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Tommy White – .337 BA, 1.086 OPS, 86 H, 24 HR, 69 RBI, .675 SLG
Jared Jones – .287 BA, 1.162 OPS, 62 H, 26 HR, 55 RBI
#3 Wofford Terriers
The Southern Conference champions are coming into the Regional with a 41-18 record and a 12-8 conference record. This Wofford team is simply not one of the more battle tested teams compared to the others in the field. While they have the ability to put up a lot of runs and usually did just that in their wins, they’re running into a very motivated LSU team. It’ll be an uphill battle all Regional especially for the Terriers.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Marshall Toole – .383 BA, 1.107 OPS, 93 H, 15 2B, 10 3B, 9 HR, 64 RBI, 42 SB
Dixon Black – .368 BA, 1.129 OPS, 85 H, 13 HR, 75 RBI, 13 SB
Daniel Jackson – .362 BA, 1.078 OPS, 71 H, 12 HR, 67 RBI
#4 Long Island University Sharks
LIU is coming into Chapel Hill off of a Northeast Conference Championship and a 33-23 overall record with a 24-9 record in conference play. This team has played some good competition outside of conference play like Miami, UConn, St. Johns, and Army. They’ll be challenged with a powerful UNC offense and the pitching will need to hold up to have hopes at clinching the Supers.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Seth Surrett – .332 BA, .948 OPS, 68 H, 12 2B, 5 HR, 38 RBI, 13 SB
Jake Mastillo – .305 BA, .965 OPS, 68 H, 14 2B, 67 RBI, .592 SLG
Predicted Winner: #2 Louisiana State Tigers
LSU has a difficult route to get to the Supers but they’ve been playing great baseball lately. This team as previously mentioned has all the experience needed to make a deep run in the postseason, and had they not run into the top seed in the tournament, they may have been crowned SEC champions. With that sour taste in the their mouth, they’ll look to make up for it in this Chapel Hill Regional.