USC baseball is a confident force right now. The Trojans lost the first game of their regional but then ran the table to advance to the NCAA Chapel Hill Super Regional. They know they can make the College World Series if they continue to play the way they did Saturday through Monday in College Station, Texas. However, let’s be honest: The North Carolina team waiting for USC this weekend looks like an elite group. The traits found in winning baseball teams are currently in evidence on the Diamond Heels, as Tar Heels Wire explains:
Writing about offensive sparkplug Erik Paulsen, Tar Heels Wire noted that “‘Paulie,’ as his UNC teammates call him, showed out in the Chapel Hill Regional. The Diamond Heels’ first baseman, who transferred in from Stony Brook last offseason, mashed 6-for-12 with six RBI and two runs scored. North Carolina’s usual top offensive producers are Owen Hull and Jake Schaffner, but if guys like Paulie can continue this type of production, wins will be easy to come by.”
You can see that UNC baseball has expected stars who are being helped by role players. That’s a winning baseball formula with depth and balance in the batting order. There are no easy outs for Carolina, one through nine.
Tar Heels Wire then looked at UNC’s pitching situation, which is also defined by depth and balance:
“Seven shutout innings with five strikeouts? That’s exactly what Ryan Lynch brought in UNC’s Regional-opening, 8-0 blanking of VCU on Friday. Lynch outplayed his fellow rotation mates in Boaz and ace Jason DeCaro, the latter of whom gave up three runs in just under four innings on Saturday. DeCaro will rebound, but for now, Lynch is the hot hand who’ll help UNC win games going forward.”
North Carolina didn’t get a good start from its staff ace and still won the regional fairly easily. The depth in UNC’s starting rotation has to give the Diamond Heels confidence, and send a message to USC that this will be a very difficult assignment in Chapel Hill.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: North Carolina depth will challenge USC in NCAA Super Regional
Reporting by Matt Zemek, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
