The No. 12 North Carolina baseball team has had a strong season, heading into the final 17 games with a record almost identical to last year’s team.
The 2018 team ended the season with UNC’s (27-11, 10-8 ACC) first College World Series appearance in five years.
Junior Michael Busch has played a key role in helping the Tar Heels retain such a high level of play on the field during this season as well. The first baseman is currently on track to set career highs for home runs and RBIs in a single season. Busch has hit three home runs in North Carolina’s last three games, however the Tar Heels have dropped their last two outings.
Despite some recent struggles, UNC is remaining optimistic about the remainder of the season, as Busch pointed out before Thursday’s practice.
“I feel like we’re in a really good situation with our overall record, ACC standings and the way we’re playing right now,” Busch said. “Baseball is a weird game. You don’t always play as well as you can every game and that’s just baseball sometimes.”
Yet North Carolina actually does appear to play about as well as it can at Boshamer Stadium. UNC is boasting an impressive 21-2 home record this season and is carrying a home win streak of eight games into the series against Boston College in Chapel Hill this weekend.
Busch spoke about the team’s impressive play at home this year and how important it is to have 14 of the final 17 games played at Boshamer Stadium.
“It does make it a little easier,” Busch said. “As finals start to come in and the school load puts pressure on us, just being home and able to do that stuff makes it a lot easier for us on the school side of things and on the baseball side of things.”
The Tar Heels have also had some sound performances on the mound as of late. As a unit, the North Carolina pitching staff has thrown at least nine strikeouts in four of the last five games. Junior pitcher Tyler Baum had particular praise for the the first-year pitchers.
