The Diamond Heels announced their 2026 regular season schedule Tuesday. Carolina is coming off a 2025 season which saw it win the ACC Tournament in Durham and reach the Super Regionals in the NCAA Tournament.
UNC opens at home against a power conference foe for the second straight season, as Indiana of the Big Ten will visit Boshamer Stadium for a three-game series February 13-15. It will be the first meeting ever between the two schools in baseball.
Other key non-conference dates include the annual three-game, three-city series with East Carolina February 20-22. The first game will be played on the ECU campus in Greenville, the second will be played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the third will be played at Boshamer Stadium. March 24 will see UNC face South Carolina at Truist Field in Charlotte, and UNC will welcome 2025 Men’s College World Series runners-up Coastal Carolina to Boshamer Stadium April 28.
In conference play, Carolina will play home series against Virginia (March 6-8, the first ACC series of the season), Men’s College World Series participants Louisville (March 20-22), Boston College (April 2-4), Georgia Tech (April 17-19) and Pittsburgh (May 8-10). The away conference series will be played at Cal (March 13-15, UNC’s first visit to the Pacific time zone since 2016), Notre Dame (March 27-29), Clemson (April 10-12, a rematch of the 2025 ACC title game), Duke (April 24-26) and NC State (May 14-16, the regular season finale). Interestingly, UNC will also host Duke in a midweek game at Boshamer Stadium, scheduled for May 3. That matchup will be classified as a non-conference game.
Among the key returners for Carolina in 2026 are infielder Gavin Gallaher and starting pitcher Jason DeCaro, each of whom played major roles in leading the Diamond Heels to the Men’s College World Series in 2024 and the ACC championship in 2025. In the bullpen, reliever Matthew Matthijs also returns after missing much of the 2025 season with an arm injury, as does flamethrower Walker McDuffie. Head coach Scott Forbes was busy in the transfer portal in the offseason, with key additions including catcher Macon Winslow from Duke, infielder Jake Schaffner from North Dakota State and outfielder Owen Hull from George Mason.
Forbes will be tasked with replacing the contributions of several outgoing players, including catcher Luke Stevenson, ACC Pitcher of the Year Jake Knapp and outfielder Kane Kepley. Each of those players was selected in the 2025 MLB Draft.
For a full look at UNC’s 2026 schedule, click here.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
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