FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of North Carolina baseball team will face another challenging slate in 2012 as the Tar Heels will play 23 games against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Carolina will host NC State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Virginia Tech in league play and will take to the road to face Clemson, Maryland, Miami, Virginia and Duke.
Carolina will open the season with an 11-game homestand as Xavier comes in for a three-game set (Feb. 17-19) followed by a visit from Horizon League champion Wright State (Feb. 24-26).
Following a visit from Big East finalist St. John’s for a midweek test, the Tar Heels will host 12-time NCAA Champion Southern California in a weekend series set for March 2-4.
“We are excited about our 2012 schedule and the 37 home games at Boshamer Stadium,” head coach Mike Fox said. “It will be a very challenging spring with the ACC once again very competitive and our non-conference schedule is full of quality opponents as well.”
Carolina will open the 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference schedule on the road as the Tar Heels will take on Clemson (March 9-11) who advanced to the 2011 NCAA Super Regional. The Tar Heels will then travel to College Park, Md. to take on the Terrapins (March 16-18) in a three-game series before hosting rival NC State March 23-25 and then in-state foe Wake Forest March 30-April 1.
The toughest stretch of the season will be the month of April for the Tar Heels as they travel to Miami (April 6-8) and Virginia (April 13-15) and host Georgia Tech (April 20-22) in key ACC weekend series.
The Tar Heels will have the luxury of not leaving the state of North Carolina in the month of May as they host Boston College (May 4-6), travel to Duke (May 11-13) and wrap up the regular season at home against Virginia Tech (May 17-19).
UNC’s non-conference schedule features midweek dates with a number of in-state opponents, including Davidson (March 6), Elon (March 7-Away, April 4-Home), Gardner-Webb (March 14), High Point (April 17), UNC Asheville (April 11-Home, May 15-Away), UNC Greensboro (March 13-Away, April 24-Home) and UNC Wilmington (May 8). The Tar Heels will also have visits from Princeton, Coastal Carolina, Liberty and Winthrop.
The Tar Heels will make their first-ever trip to Asheville, N.C. for the final midweek contest of the season on May 15 and will take on UNC Asheville at McCormick Field, the home of the Asheville Tourists.
“I am looking forward to playing at McCormick Field in Asheville where I watched games as a kid,” Fox added.
The 2012 ACC Tournament will be held at the NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, N.C. and will run from May 23-27 and the NCAA Tournament will get under way June 1 with the regional round.
Full 2012 UNC Baseball Schedule (PDF)
