The highly anticipated matchup between Tennessee and North Carolina is set for the second round of the College World Series. The Volunteers and Tar Heels both emerged victorious in their first round games, with Tennessee coming back from a late deficit to defeat Florida State and North Carolina walking off Virginia.
Tennessee, ranked first in the country with a record of 56-12, will face off against North Carolina, which holds a record of 48-14. In the SEC Championship game, Tennessee defeated Vanderbilt while North Carolina fell to Wake Forest. However, the Volunteers’ luck turned around in regional and super regional rounds where they won against Northern Kentucky, Southern Miss, and Indiana before defeating Evansville. On the other hand, North Carolina had an impressive run where they defeated Long Island University, LSU, and West Virginia before reaching the College World Series.
When it comes to statistics, North Carolina ranks 31st in batting average at .304 while Tennessee sits in 16th place at .312. The Volunteers have hit significantly more home runs than North Carolina this season. Defensively, Tennessee holds an advantage with a season ERA of 3.95, ranking sixth in the country compared to North Carolina’s 4.19 ERA which ranks 14th.
Key players to watch in this matchup include Christian Moore from Tennessee who has a batting average of .385 with 33 home runs and 72 RBIs. Moore also hit for the cycle in their game against Florida State which makes him only the second player in College World Series history to do so. For North Carolina, outfielder Vance Honeycutt is a player to keep an eye on as he has a batting average of .307 with 26 home runs and 66 RBIs. Honeycutt is also considered one of the top 25 MLB draft prospects for the upcoming draft.
The College World Series operates on a double elimination basis so Sunday’s game is not a must-win for either team; however
