When the NCAA Baseball Tournament bracket was revealed one week ago today, Diamond Heels fans had a right to be upset. Playing in the tournament’s Chapel Hill Regional would be No. 5 overall seed Carolina, Tennessee, East Carolina and VCU. Pundits quickly dubbed that foursome – featuring four programs who wouldn’t shy away from postseason baseball – as the “Region of Death.”
Come Sunday night, UNC emerged from that region unscathed after beating VCU and East Carolina twice. Carolina outscored the Pirates 16-8 across its two games and shut the Rams out in Friday’s opener. As for the Vols? They ducked out with an 0-2 record, losing to the Pirates and Rams on back-to-back days.
It marked the first time UNC had swept a regional weekend since 2019. And after Sunday’s clinching win, Erik Paulsen had a message.
“We knew it was the Region of Death for everybody else,” he said. “We knew we were gonna go out there and play our game of baseball. And when we play our best, nobody can beat us.”
Paulsen had reason to boast. As the big first baseman sat down at the press conference dais, he was informed he had been named the region’s Most Outstanding Player. Paulsen drove in two of Carolina’s nine runs Sunday.
Head coach Scott Forbes could only laugh at his first baseman’s mic-drop moment. Now in his sixth season, Forbes has seen his team take on tough regionals before – including a matchup with reigning national champions LSU two years ago – and come out clean on the other side.
“That’s how confident they are,” Forbes said. “These guys do see what’s written and what’s out there. And I think they feel like they’re pretty tough and they’re pretty good. So I think their approach was, yeah it is the toughest regional. But it’s gonna be the toughest for everybody else.”
Forbes has now led his team to the Super Regional round for the fourth time in the last five seasons, but it’s the first time he’s done so without taking a loss on regional weekend. That was practically a given under his predecessor Mike Fox, who made regionals at Boshamer Stadium almost automatic.
Forbes said he thought of Fox and the great Diamond Heel teams of the past often during the week, even taking in games between the other three teams in his down time.
“To see Boshamer Stadium, to see what it is today, is awesome,” Forbes said. “I took it in more. I’ve done a better job. It’s hard to do that when you’re a competitor, but I walked around. Just tried to take it in.”
The fans who packed Boshamer all weekend long took in a regional which finished chalkier than many expected. The only “upsets” to be had involved Tennessee, which fell to ECU in 14 innings Friday and was eliminated by VCU Saturday. UNC and Paulsen were clearly unimpressed with the prognostications of a difficult weekend ahead for the Diamond Heels, and now find themselves two wins away from Omaha and the College World Series.
Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
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