Tar Heel baseball earns No. 3 NCAA tournament seed

The regular season has ended for college baseball, but North Carolina hasn’t seen the last of Boshamer Stadium just yet.

The Tar Heels were selected as the No. 3 national seed for the NCAA baseball championship and will be one of 16 regional hosts for the tournament.

UNC was never ranked higher than No. 5 nationally during the 2011 campaign, but the Tar Heels were No. 1 in last week’s RPI rankings.

“Honestly, (the No. 3 seed) was a little unexpected because we haven’t been ranked that high all year,” pitcher Chris Munnelly said. “But we weren’t surprised because we feel like we’re that good of a team.”

The Tar Heels (45-14) will host Florida International (40-18-1), Maine (32-22) and James Madison (40-17) June 3-6. UNC will open play against Maine on Friday at 6 p.m. Since 2006, North Carolina is 12-0 in regional play at home.

Five Black Bears have batting averages greater than .300, and Maine averages more than five runs per game.

Maine will likely pose a great offensive threat, but catcher Jacob Stallings said he is confident the Tar Heels will know just how to respond.

In North Carolina’s 9-0 ACC tournament win against Wake Forest, starter Patrick Johnson allowed no hits, struck out eight and walked just two Demon Deacons in six innings pitched.

“Pitching and defense is what coach Fox preaches,” Stallings said. “We were top 10 in the country in fielding percentage and we feel like our starting pitching and our bullpen is our strength.”

UNC has been fueled by reliable pitching so far this season, but the bats have been hot for a pair of hard-hitting underclassmen.

Sophomore second baseman Tommy Coyle leads the Tar Heels with 77 hits and is currently on a 10-game hit streak.

Freshman third baseman Colin Moran leads the ACC with 68 RBI and became the fourth freshman in UNC history to reach the 60 RBI mark.

Moran is just six RBI away from equalling former North Carolina first baseman and three-time all-American Dustin Ackley’s freshman year RBI total.

Though Moran will be competing in his first NCAA tournament, Stallings said he doesn’t think nerves will be a factor for the freshman.

“He’s obviously a very mature hitter and he proved that this year by being one of the best hitters in our league, if not the best,” Stallings said. “I think he along with all the other freshmen will be ready come game time.”

If UNC wins the double-elimination regional, it will host the winner of the Cal State-Fullerton regional in Fullerton, Calif. for a best-of-three super regional June 10-13.

North Carolina went to the College World Series each year from 2006-2009, but fell in last season’s regional round.

UNC will have several obstacles to overcome before it can book its trip to Omaha — but that doesn’t mean it’s not in the back of the Tar Heels’ minds.

“We’re feeling really good about everything,” Munnelly said. “We feel like the stars are aligning in our favor, and I think we’re all just really excited about getting started and hopefully getting to Omaha. That’s been our number one goal all year.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.