North Carolina will play one of the nation’s best teams in No. 9 Coastal Carolina.

The second-ranked Tar Heels are coming off a series win over Duke, their seventh straight series win since opening ACC play with a series loss to Virginia. The Diamond Heels clinched the Duke series with a 22-5 throttling of the Blue Devils in the rubber match.

Advertisement

The Chanticleers (30-13) are coming off a series win over Texas State. Coastal Carolina is 3-2 against ACC opponents this season, with wins over Clemson and Wake Forest (twice) and losses to NC State and Wake Forest.

Coastal Carolina is coming off a largely successful season in which it went 56-13, won the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles and finished as the national runner-up after losing to LSU.

First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill. Keep reading below as we dive deeper into our preview with several must-knows ahead of Tuesday’s matchup.

UNC’s Key to Victory

Clamp down on the basepaths.

Coastal Carolina’s offense is built around small ball — patience at the plate, timely hitting, getting on base by any means necessary, bunting and aggressive but disciplined baserunning. The Chanticleers do not rely on power or extra-base hits; they prioritize simply getting on base and then applying pressure.

Advertisement

They rank 26th nationally in total stolen bases and 27th in stolen bases per game. Seven Chanticleers have at least 10 steals this season, and they also rank second in the nation in sacrifice bunts. For North Carolina, controlling the running game will be critical to keeping Coastal’s offense in check.

Players to watch from UNC

Common midweek pitchers

• LHP Jackson Rose (3-0): 1.39 ERA, 3-0, 32.1 IP, allowed just five runs on 18 hits, 15 walks, 29 strikeouts

• RHP Walker McDuffie (6-1): 2.33 ERA, 44.1 IP, 11 runs on 26 hits, 4 saves, 25 walks, 57 strikeouts

• RHP Boston Flannery (1-0): 3.06 ERA, 17.2 IP, 11 runs (six earned) on 15 hits, 16 walks and 17 strikeouts

Position Players

• OF Owen Hull: .389 batting average, 65 hits, 17 doubles, four home runs, 55 RBI, team-high 15 stolen bases

• INF Jake Schaffner: 344 batting average, 62 hits, 12 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 31 RBIs

• C Macon Winslow: 306 batting average, 44 hits, 10 doubles, seven home runs, 38 RBI

• INF Erik Paulsen: .296 batting average, 48 hits, seven doubles, seven home runs, 38 RBI

Players to watch from Coastal Carolina

Common midweek pitchers

• RHP Darin Horn (6-1): 3.40 ERA, 5 saves (team-high), 42.1 IP, 46 hits, 23 runs allowed (16 earned), 16 walks, 62 streikeouts

• RHP Jaxon Appleman (0-1): 7.62 ERA, 28.1 IP, 23 hirs, 27 runs allowed (23 earned), 18 walks, 32 streikouts

• RHP Jackson Smallets (0-1): 3.75 ERA, 24.0 IP, 22 hits allowed, 10 runs allowed (all earned), 14 walks, 16 strikeouts

• RHP Connor Kane (2-1): 6.26 ERA, 21.0 IPm 29 hitsm 16 runs allowed (15 earned), 12 walks, 16 strikeouts

Position players

• OF Dean Mihos: 

  • Preseason All-Sun Belt selection and member of 2025 Men’s College World Series All-Tournament Team

  • Team-highs in batting average (.320), hits (55) and doubles (12) to go along with 46 runs, five home runs and 33 RBIs

• OF Rex Watson

  • San Diego transfer where he was an All-WCC selection as a freshman

  • Batting .265 with 40 hits, six doubles, one triple and team highs in home runs (11) and RBIs (47).

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC baseball vs Coastal Carolina: Preview, key to victory, players