{"id":1379,"date":"2026-05-31T04:06:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1379"},"modified":"2026-05-31T04:06:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:06:38","slug":"no-5-overall-seed-unc-baseball-wins-opening-game-of-chapel-hill-regional-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1379","title":{"rendered":"No. 5 overall seed UNC baseball wins opening game of Chapel Hill Regional"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Entering the 2026 NCAA Tournament Chapel Hill Regional, UNC coach Scott Forbes made a lineup change he hadn\u2019t opted for in three years. Some may have considered it a gamble. Depends on who you ask.<\/p>\n

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But regardless, Forbes decided to save his Friday starter, junior right-handed ace Jason DeCaro, for UNC\u2019s second game of the regional on Saturday. Sophomore righty Ryan Lynch faced VCU in DeCaro\u2019s place for Friday\u2019s opening game of the NCAA Tournament \u2014 marking his 15th start of the year but first as the leading arm of the weekend.<\/p>\n

It turned out to be the right call.<\/p>\n

Lynch threw a career-high 108 pitches in an 8-0 win for the No. 5 overall seeded Tar Heels over the Rams on Friday night at Boshamer Stadium. UNC (46-11-1) didn\u2019t send any of its pitchers to the bullpen until the fifth inning, and VCU (37-24) never got on the board. The Rams never had a runner get as far as third base.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s a 96 to 98 mile-per-hour fastball from a pretty weird angle, a low slot release,\u201d Rams catcher Jacob Lee said of facing Lynch. \u201cThat\u2019s about what we got with that. It\u2019s a tough look.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Carolina has boasted, arguably, the best power-conference pitching staff in college baseball the last three years. But the last time Forbes saved his Friday ace for Game 2 of a regional was in 2023. With Dalton Pence on the mound, the Tar Heels\u2019 season came to an end in a 6-5 loss to Iowa<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

But this go around, Forbes\u2019 call to switch up the order couldn\u2019t have gone much better.<\/p>\n

By the time Lynch finally stepped off the mound, the sky had turned a dark shade of blue and he\u2019d pitched seven innings and given up two hits. And he looked like he could\u2019ve kept going \u2014 recording two of his five strikeouts in the top of the seventh in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a big social media guy, but a lot of people enlightened me that we were \u2018throwing off\u2019 today,\u201d Forbes said after Friday\u2019s win. \u201cI didn\u2019t agree with that at all. We\u2019ve got guys. We don\u2019t throw off. We didn\u2019t throw off today. Ryan Lynch is one of our best guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynch made his big breakout in the postseason last year, picking up his first three career starts as a freshman in the ACC Championship. He also started two elimination games for the Tar Heels in the regional and super regional. That late-game surge helped Lynch earn Freshman Second Team All-American honors from D1Baseball and Baseball America.<\/p>\n

Entering this season, Lynch focused on building his endurance, perfecting his slider and getting a feel back for his changeup. But the year hasn\u2019t gone as well as the self-critical Lynch might\u2019ve hoped.<\/p>\n

Lynch entered this weekend with a 4.44 ERA and a 4-4 record. He\u2019s settled into UNC\u2019s Saturday starter role and earned Third-Team All-ACC honors, but wishes he was more dominant. Lynch laments his slider and said Friday his pitches \u201cdefinitely haven\u2019t been where I wanted them to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Lynch\u2019s ACC Tournament outing, he allowed three runs on nine hits in four innings pitched against Pitt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last couple weeks we haven\u2019t done our job,\u201d Lynch said of the UNC pitching staff. \u201cWe haven\u2019t gone long enough. A lot of inefficient outings, not putting our team in the best spot to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I just tried to do whatever I could this week to make sure that wasn\u2019t the case anymore,\u201d Lynch added. \u201cI worked on delivery a little bit more, just seeing what I could do to feel better and give my team a better shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late Friday night, Forbes pointed out Lynch\u2019s new haircut \u2014 a fresh buzzcut \u2014 to reporters with a smile. But it was clear that Lynch\u2019s dominant outing was a result of his relentless work.<\/p>\n

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He mixed up his pitches more \u2014 particularly leaning on improved sliders and changeups in later innings \u2014 to keep VCU\u2019s batters off-balance. He worked throughout the past week on adjusting the delivery on his slider, making sure he could \u201cget around it\u201d better and replicate a similar feel he had during last year\u2019s late-season surge.<\/p>\n

Forbes saw the work in the days leading up to Lynch\u2019s start. That, combined with Lynch\u2019s quiet intensity throughout Friday, gave Forbes the confidence to stick with Lynch through seven innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw that same look in his face as I did late in the season last year,\u201d Forbes said. \u201cAnd I thought he was efficient… just ultra aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

UNC and VCU saw each other at the Bosh just three months prior to Friday\u2019s regional game. The Tar Heels earned a 13-3 run-rule win in that Feb. 25 contest, in which first baseman Erik Paulsen starred with a hit in all four of his at bats \u2014 two of them home runs.<\/p>\n

Paulsen came up big again on Friday, hitting a line-drive double to right center field to drive in two runs \u2014 Gavin Gallaher and Macon Winslow \u2014 in the bottom of the first inning. Nicholson Cooper then batted Paulsen in with a single to left field to give the Tar Heels an early 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n

UNC scored again in the bottom of the third on a Cooper Nicholson home run to left field \u2014 a 355-foot, 110-mile-per-hour shot for his 16th homer of the season.<\/p>\n

Leadoff batter Jake Schaffner batted in the Tar Heels\u2019 fifth run in the bottom of the eighth and was brought in by an Owen Hull triple \u2014 the center fielder\u2019s first of the season. Two straight RBI singles by Gallaher and Paulsen gave UNC its third and fourth runs of the frame \u2014 and an 8-0 lead entering the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

North Carolina\u2019s go-to reliever, sophomore Walker McDuffie, and senior Matthew Matthijs closed the game out. Both right-handed pitchers took the mound for one inning each. Neither gave up a hit to complete the shutout.<\/p>\n

With the win, the Tar Heels will face No. 3 regional seed ECU \u2014 the Pirates beat No. 2 Tennessee, 7-3, in a 14-inning endeavor earlier Friday \u2014 on Saturday at 5 p.m. UNC will have their top arm, DeCaro, ready to go against an ECU squad that burned through many of their key pitchers in Friday\u2019s thriller.<\/p>\n

DeCaro had one of his best outings of the season against East Carolina in February: an eight-inning gem with seven strikeouts and no runs allowed on 101 pitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you step on the field, the adrenaline is going to kick in,\u201d DeCaro said Thursday. \u201cIn terms of the preparation, you can\u2019t change it up that much. You have the entire season to get into a new routine and there\u2019s no reason to switch it up now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m in a really good spot,\u201d DeCaro added. \u201cI feel really strong going into this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Carolina\u2019s series against ECU in February ended in a 1-1 tie, with the third game cancelled due to weather.<\/p>\n

For Paulsen, that adds a bit of extra motivation in Saturday\u2019s rematch.<\/p>\n

\u201cTying that series kind of stunk,\u201d Paulsen said Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a really good opportunity to show them that we\u2019re the better team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 9:14 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No. 5 overall seed North Carolina beat VCU 8-0 in the Chapel Hill regional. 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