2013 Chapel Hill Super Regional

(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton, Zachary Kerr)

1. North Carolina Tar Heels

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

ACC Champions bid

2013 record: 21-7, 55-9 (first in Coastal Division and ACC)

Head coach: Mike Fox (North Carolina, 1978)

Record at school: 689-271-1, 15 years

Overall record: 1,229-412-5, 30 years

Assistant Coaches: Scott Forbes, Scott Jackson, Bryant Gaines

Team offense: .310 BA, 518 R, 47 HR, 85-117 SB

Team pitching: 2.69 ERA, 592.1 IP, 453 H, 239 BB, 531 K

Top hitters: Chaz Frank (.313/1/35/5 3B/22-26 SB), Colin Moran (.348/13/86/60 BB), Landon Lassiter (.357/1/27/72 R), Skye Bolt (.341/6/49/13 2B), Cody Stubbs (.372/8/76/24 2B), Michael Russell (.314/2/36/18-20 SB)

Top pitchers: Kent Emmanuel (11-3, 2.70 ERA, 120 IP, 103 H, 27 BB, 88 K), Trent Thornton (9-1, 8 SV, 1.17 ERA, 77 IP, 54 H, 12 BB, 71 K), Benton Moss (8-1, 3.78 ERA, 85.2 IP, 76 H, 33 BB, 89 K), Hobbs Johnson (4-0, 2.09 ERA, 77.1 IP, 52 H, 46 BB, 71 K), Chris Munnelly (6-0, 1 SV, 2.56 ERA, 56.1 IP, 33 H, 26 BB, 61 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2012 (1-2 in Chapel Hill Regional)

Notes: North Carolina advanced from a regional for the sixth time since 2006, but only the second time in four years. The Tar Heels beat four-seed Canisius (6-3) and three-seed Towson (8-5) on the short path to a regional final against two-seed Florida Atlantic. The Owls almost pulled off the upset, winning 3-2 in the first game, but the Tar Heels matched large FAU rallies in the ninth and 12th before scoring the lone run of the 13th for a 12-11 walk-off win. The last time North Carolina played its super regional opponent, South Carolina, was in the same round in 2006. The Tar Heels advanced to the College World Series that year after winning two of three against the Gamecocks, all of which were high-scoring affairs. North Carolina has made the tournament for the 12th straight year and the 28th overall. The Tar Heels reached the College World Series for four consecutive years, from 2006 to 2009, becoming the first ACC team to reach Omaha in four straight seasons. The Tar Heels were stunned by third seed St. John's twice in the Chapel Hill Regional last year. UNC had won its previous 16 home games in regional action. Sophomore Colin Moran is the nephew of former Tar Heel and major leaguer B.J. Surhoff. North Carolina won the ACC regular season title for the first time since 1990. UNC has scored nine or more runs 23 times this season, winning all 23 games. The longest Tar Heels win streak this season was 16, spanning from the team's Feb. 15 start to March 13. The team followed its first loss with win streaks of nine and 14, good for a record of 39-2 through 41 games. UNC is the only team in the country that has not lost consecutive games this season—the ninth such season in team history—but had lost four of its last seven regular season games.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Columbia, South Carolina

At-large bid from SEC, won Columbia Regional

2012 record: 17-12, 42-18 (second place in SEC East)

Head coach: Chad Holbrook (North Carolina, 1994)

Record at school: 42-18, 1 year

Overall record: 42-18, 1 year

Assistant coaches: Jerry Meyers, Sammy Esposito, Brian Buscher

Team offense: .284 BA, 360 R, 51 HR, .422 SLG%, .374 OBP, 57-83 SB

Team pitching: 3.01 ERA, 535.1 IP, 519 H, 139 BB, 479 K

Top hitters: LB Dantzler (.322/15/51/15 2B), Joey Pankake (.313/10/39), Grayson Greiner (.304/4/35/10 2B), Connor Bright (.296/4/22/10 2B), Max Schrock (.282/6/39/14-18 SB)

Top pitchers: Tyler Webb (3-2, 17 SV, 39.2 IP, 30 H, 12 BB, 60 K), Jordan Montgomery (5-1, 1.67, 70 IP, 60 H, 17 BB, 57 K), Nolan Belcher (7-5, 2.25, 112 IP, 100 H, 15 BB, 94 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2012 (3-0 in Columbia Regional, 2-0 in Columbia Super Regional, 4-1 in College World Series bracket play, 0-2 in CWS Championship Series)

Notes: The Gamecocks will be making their fourth straight Super Regional appearance – and 11th in 14 years – after going 3-0 and winning the Columbia Regional. South Carolina has won 27 straight NCAA tournament games at home, but it will be on the road for the Super Regionals. Kyle Martin was named the Regional’s Most Outstanding Player. The Gamecocks reached the NCAA Tournament for the 29th time, including 15 straight, the longest streak among SEC schools. This is the first for rookie head coach Chad Holbrook, who was an assistant under Mike Fox at North Carolina before coming to Columbia. South Carolina has been to the College World Series each of the past three seasons, winning consecutive national championships in 2010 and 2011 before a runner-up finish in 2012. The Gamecocks became just the sixth program to repeat as national champion in 2011. The only team to win three straight titles is Southern California, which won five consecutive championships between 1970 and 1974. South Carolina had an NCAA-record 22-game postseason winning streak snapped by Arkansas in Omaha a year ago. The Gamecocks are third in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.45) and sixth in walks allowed per nine innings (2.34). Tyler Webb, once a starter for South Carolina, is sixth in the country with 17 saves – he’s 9-3 with 20 saves the past two years. LB Dantzler is 17^th in the nation with 15 home runs and has 25 long balls the past two years. Catcher Grayson Greiner, whose father played basketball at South Carolina, is hitting .304 after hitting .222 a year ago.