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The 16-team field for the NCAA baseball super regionals is set. The NCAA Tournament's original field of 64 has been whittled down to eight two-team competitions. The eight super regional winners will go to Omaha for the College World Series later this month. USA TODAY Sports re-ranked the 16 teams left in the tournament. North Carolina, USC's next opponent, came in at No. 2:
"When North Carolina's draw was revealed, there was a lot of hand-wringing about what looked like a regional of death," USA TODAY's Kevin Skiver wrote. "There was the big name in Tennessee, the sneaky auto-bid in East Carolina, and of course the treacherous No. 4 seed in VCU. The Tar Heels looked unfazed, dispatching VCU with ease behind normal Saturday night starter Ryan Lynch. Even with a less-than stellar outing from Jason DeCaro against ECU, the Tar Heels rallied and won. They're going to be a tough out moving forward."
It has to concern USC -- and encourage North Carolina -- that the Tar Heels smoothly won their regional even though their staff ace, Jason DeCaro, did not pitch well. UNC is surely expecting DeCaro to pitch a lot better against USC. The Trojans, whose bats came alive in the College Station Regional, will simply have to send a message in Chapel Hill this weekend. USC didn't just hit a bunch of home runs against Texas State, Lamar, and Texas A&M; those were clutch home runs which came in high-leverage moments. Timely extra-base hits will need to remain part of the formula for the Trojans, who are two wins from Omaha.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: North Carolina seen as national title contender entering USC series
Continue reading...
"When North Carolina's draw was revealed, there was a lot of hand-wringing about what looked like a regional of death," USA TODAY's Kevin Skiver wrote. "There was the big name in Tennessee, the sneaky auto-bid in East Carolina, and of course the treacherous No. 4 seed in VCU. The Tar Heels looked unfazed, dispatching VCU with ease behind normal Saturday night starter Ryan Lynch. Even with a less-than stellar outing from Jason DeCaro against ECU, the Tar Heels rallied and won. They're going to be a tough out moving forward."
It has to concern USC -- and encourage North Carolina -- that the Tar Heels smoothly won their regional even though their staff ace, Jason DeCaro, did not pitch well. UNC is surely expecting DeCaro to pitch a lot better against USC. The Trojans, whose bats came alive in the College Station Regional, will simply have to send a message in Chapel Hill this weekend. USC didn't just hit a bunch of home runs against Texas State, Lamar, and Texas A&M; those were clutch home runs which came in high-leverage moments. Timely extra-base hits will need to remain part of the formula for the Trojans, who are two wins from Omaha.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: North Carolina seen as national title contender entering USC series
Continue reading...
