Our regional previews shifts to Chapel Hill where North Carolina will host Purdue, Houston and North Carolina A&T this weekend.
We will give a brief breakdown of each team before giving our prediction below.
- North Carolina 38-18 (22-8)
There were a lot of question marks about this team early in the year with some bad losses and just a 9-8 record in their first 17 games. Things settled down for them as they lost just three conference series, and only one at home. Kyle Datres is the team’s leading hitter with a .339 average to go along with 55 runs scored. Michael Busch delivers the power for this team with 11 home runs and 52 RBI to go along with a .313 average. As a team they are hitting .282 and scoring 6.9 runs per game. The pitching staff was supposed to be the strength of this team but didn’t quite live up to expectations this year with a team ERA of 3.60 in 502 innings pitched with 555 strikeouts. No one threw more 70 innings during the regular season, but Austin Bergner, Tyler Baum and Cooper Criswell are their top arms. Gianluca Dalatri has looked good as he works his way back, and he could be the difference-maker for North Carolina in this tournament.
- Purdue 37-19 (17-6)
Purdue comes into this regional have won 21 of their last 24 games, including a loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten championship game. Outfielder Skyler Hunter hit .330 this year and scored 46 runs. First baseman Jacson McGowan hit .302 this year and led the Boilermakers with 12 home runs and 56 RBI. As a team Purdue hit .280 this year and scored 5.8 runs per game. Tanner Andrews is the leader of the pitching staff with a 2.71 ERA in 92 innings pitched with 75 strikeouts. Ross Learnad had a 2.45 ERA out of the bullpen with 32 strikeouts and 15 saves. The pitching staff had a 3.84 ERA in 498.2 innings pitched with 403 strikeouts.
- Houston 36-23 (16-8)
Another team that got out to a slow start and then turned it on late as Houston won the regular season AAC title. Jared Triolo hit .343 for the Cougars this year and scored 41 runs. First baseman Joe Davis hit .308 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI. As an offense they hit just .259 this year and scored 5 runs per game. Trey Cumbie is the leader of the staff with 101 strikeouts in 96.2 innings pitched to go along with a 3.44 ERA. Aaron Fletcher had a 2.43 ERA this year in 85.1 innings pitched with 76 strikeouts. Carter Henry and Joey Pulido were both solid out of the bullpen this year. They had a solid 3.66 ERA this year in 525.2 innings pitched with 471 strikeouts.
- North Carolina A&T 32-23 (16-8)
NC A&T comes out of the MEAC where they breezed through their the tournament championship. Outfielder Dawnoven Smith hit .335 this year with 46 runs scored, 18 doubles, 8 home runs and 44 RBI. As a team they hit .276 and scored 6.4 runs per game. The pitching staff was very good this year with a 3.99 ERA in 478.2 innings pitched with 351 strikeouts. Michael Johnson and Tim Luth both had ERAs under 3.56.
Prediction:
Honestly, I don’t really love any of the teams in this regional. Houston may be the only threat to North Carolina as I think they have the pitching to keep up with the Tar Heels. The thing that scares me the most about Purdue is that they lost all three series to the three other Big Ten teams that made the postseason. I wonder if they’ll be able to get it done against a top team like North Carolina.
While I do think the Tar Heels are a beatable team, I don’t see anyone in this regional getting it done. Plus, North Carolina was embarrassed at home in a regional last year, so you know they won’t let that happen again.
Winner: North Carolina
