2011 Chapel Hill Super Regional

3. North Carolina Tar Heels

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

At-large bid from ACC, Won Chapel Hill Regional

2011 record: 20-10, 48-14 (third in Coastal Division)

Head coach: Mike Fox (North Carolina, 1978)

Record at school: 586-244-1, 13 years

Overall record: 1,126-385-5, 28 years

Assistant coaches: Scott Forbes, Scott Jackson, Robert Woodard

Team offense: .286 BA, 433 R, 38 HR, .420 SLG%, .394 OB%, 81-102 SB

Team pitching: 3.25 ERA, 554.1 IP, 509 H, 211 BB, 562 K

Top hitters: Colin Moran (.335/9/69/19 2B), Tommy Coyle (.322/2/36/16 2B/18-24 SB), Jesse Wierzbicki (.301/7/39), Levi Michael (.297/5/48/14 2B/15-16 SB), Jacob Stallings (.285/4/38/16 2B), Ben Bunting (.268/1/36/17-21 SB)

Top pitchers: Patrick Johnson (12-1, 2.36, 99.1 IP, 74 H, 29 BB, 113 K), Kent Emanuel (7-1, 2.62, 89.1 IP, 87 H, 21 BB, 79 K), Chris Munnelly (6-5, 1 SV, 4.11, 70 IP, 69 H, 31 BB, 57 K), Greg Holt (7-1, 2 SV, 3.09, 55.1 IP, 49 H, 29 BB, 63 K), Michael Morin (4-2, 8 SV, 4.80, 60 IP, 60 H, 17 BB, 63 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2010 (2-2 at Norman Regional)

Notes: North Carolina went 3-0 in the Chapel Hill Regional, outscoring its opponents 27-3. 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. UNC is 15 -0 at home in regional action since 2006. The Tar Heels have 35 NCAA victories over the past six seasons, the most in the nation. Oregon State is second with 28. Junior shortstop Levi Michael, from Welcome, N.C., was the first-round pick of the Minnesota Twins in the MLB Draft. Freshman Colin Moran is the nephew of former Tar Heel and major leaguer B.J. Surhoff. Moran’s older brother, Brian, played at UNC and is in the Seattle Mariners’ organization. Freshman right-hander Michael Morin was taken in the 40th round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals.

Stanford Cardinal

Palo Alto, California

At-large bid from Pac-10, Won Fullerton Regional

2011 record: 14-12, 35-20 (fifth in Pac-10)

Head coach: Mark Marquess (Stanford, 1969)

Record at school: 1,422-739-7, 34 years

Overall record: same

Assistant coaches: Dean Stotz, Rusty Filter, Brock Ungricht

Team offense: .302 BA, 303 R, 27 HR, .415 SLG%, .361 OB%, 33-49 SB

Team pitching: 3.40 ERA, 484.1 IP, 451 H, 172 BB, 387 K

Top hitters: Stephen Piscotty (.370/3/40/12 2B), Tyler Gaffney (.323/3/34), Brian Ragira (.320/4/43), Austin Wilson (.309/5/27), Lonnie Kauppila (.303/1/25), Jake Stewart (.292/0/19/15 2B), Kenny Diekroeger (.292/2/31)

Top pitchers: Chris Reed (6-2, 9 SV, 2.54, 49.2 IP, 35 H, 15 BB, 48 K), Mark Appel (6-6, 3.02, 104.1 IP, 107 H, 26 BB, 83 K), Jordan Pries (6-5, 3.24, 94.1 IP, 91 H, 30 BB, 74 K), A.J. Vanegas (1-0, 3.35, 40.1 IP, 36 H, 20 BB, 30 K), Danny Sandbrink (4-1, 3.39, 61 IP, 53 H, 15 BB, 45 K), Dean McArdle (7-4, 4.15, 56.1 IP, 55 H, 22 BB, 30 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2010 (0-2 at Fullerton Regional)

Notes: Stanford has reached a Super Regional for the eighth time and the first since 2008. The Cardinal swept the Fullerton Regional, defeating Kansas State, Cal State Fullerton and Illinois. The Cardinal is built on pitching but has some pop in the lineup in Stephen Piscotty, Brian Ragira and Tyler Gaffney. Piscotty normally puts the ball in play (only 27 Ks) and is among the team leaders in runs. Ragira is the team leader in RBI and is third in slugging. And Gaffney leads in runs (40) and is second in slugging percentage (.469) – he also has been walked or hit 34 times, best on the team. Austin Wilson can be dangerous (11 extra base hits), but he also has 56 Ks and only seven walks in 188 ABs. Don’t expect Stanford to steal a lot – it has about a stolen base every other game. Expect more hit and run. On the mound, the Cardinal makes you put it in play – there aren’t a bunch of dominant arms, just a bunch of guys who know how to pitch. Dean McArdle leads in wins with seven. Mark Appel has been a hard-luck pitcher, posting quality starts but only six wins despite a 3.02 ERA. Stanford is 32-0 when leading after eight innings.