UNC baseball's ace pitcher ties a program record in Game 1 of Chapel Hill Super Regional
UNC baseball's ace pitcher ties a program record in Game 1 of Chapel Hill Super Regional Jake Knapp just did something no other UNC pitcher had since 1978.
The hallmark of every strong baseball team is a deep pitching staff, which the North Carolina Tar Heels are extremely lucky to have.
Jason DeCaro returned to UNC for his sophomore season, giving the starting rotation a major boost with nine wins. Aidan Haugh is back, striking out 79 batters up to the Super Regional Round. North Carolina's bullpen is even stronger: despite losing Dalton Pence to the 2024 MLB Draft and Matthew Matthijs to an injury for the 2025 season, names like Ryan Lynch and Walker McDuffie give Diamond Heels fans faith in the later innings.
There's one arm who isn't just the best pitcher in Chapel Hill, but all of college baseball: Jake Knapp. After missing all of UNC's 2024 campaign with a UCL tear, Knapp is enjoying a near-spotless campaign: an NCAA-leading 14 wins and 14-0 win-loss record, a North Carolina-best 2.02 earned run average and 88 strikeouts.
During the Diamond Heels' 18-2 drubbing of Arizona on Friday, in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional, Knapp picked up his 14th win. In the process, Knapp tied Greg Norris for the most wins by a UNC pitcher – in a single season.
To make Knapp's victory even sweeter, he tied the program record in his last home start – in front of the Tar Heel faithful.
Knapp hurled seven innings and escaped early trouble, only allowing two runs across seven innings. Knapp worked around nine hits and only struck out three batters, then handed the baseball over to Tom Chimelewski for two nearly-spotless innings.
If North Carolina advances to the College World Series, there's a strong chance Knapp breaks the single-season record for wins by a pitcher. I'm sure Knapp would rather the Diamond Heels win the CWS, regardless of how he continues to perform, but the new record would be a sweet second.
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