CHAPEL HILL — Thirteen regional teams from a year ago, including 2016 NCAA champion Coastal Carolina and CWS participant Miami, highlight the 2017 North Carolina baseball schedule, announced Friday. The Tar Heels will host nine teams that made the postseason, including Atlantic Coast Conference foes Virginia, Miami, NC State, Clemson and Duke, and a total of 38 games at Boshamer Stadium.
Carolina will open the 2017 campaign on Feb. 17 against SEC opponent Kentucky, the first of a 17-game homestand to start the year. The Tar Heels will also host series against Radford (Feb. 24-26), Long Beach State (March 3-5) and Virginia (March 10-12) along with midweek contests against Gardner-Webb (Feb. 22), Winthrop (Feb. 28), St. John’s (March 1), VCU (March 7) and Maryland (March 14).
The Virginia series will mark the fourth consecutive season with the ACC opener at Boshamer Stadium after starting on the road every year from 2010-13. Other conference series in Chapel Hill are Miami (March 24-26), NC State (April 14-16), Clemson (April 28-30) and Duke (May 18-20).
Other notable midweek contests include a visit from reigning NCAA champion Coastal Carolina on March 28 and the return of coaches Scott Jackson and Bryant Gaines to Chapel Hill with their Liberty squad on April 18.
In addition to the 38 home games, a pair of non-conference midweek games will be played in North Carolina. UNC will visit East Carolina in Greenville on March 22 before returning to Charlotte for the second straight year to face border rival South Carolina on April 11.
The Tar Heels will hit the road for the first time when they travel to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech March 17-19. Trips to Florida State (March 31-April 2), Boston College (April 7-9), Pittsburgh (April 21-23) and Virginia Tech (May 12-14) round out the road slate.
As always, this year’s schedule is subject to change based on the selection of games by the league’s television partners. Any changes to the dates and times of contests will be announced as soon as possible on GoHeels.com.
Details for the 2017 ACC Baseball Championship will be announced at a later date. NCAA play begins June 2 with campus sites hosting regional action.
