Stanford Baseball Travels To Take on No. 4 North Carolina

Mar 1, 2025; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal designated hitter Charlie Saum (21) gestures after hitting a home run against the Xavier Musketeers during the eighth inning at Sunken Diamond. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

This weekend, Stanford baseball will play their toughest series all year.

The Cardinal travel to the east coast, where they take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Stanford has yet to travel outside of California this season, as they have played in Fullerton, CA in the opening series, before coming home for back-to-back weekends in Palo Alto, CA.

Stanford sits at 10-2, winning two of three series, and splitting another in four games with Xavier last weekend. Stanford held a 9-0 record to start the year, before Xavier handed the Cardinal their first losses of the season. Now they dropped two of their last three, and are starting to cool down after a blazing start.

On the other hand, North Carolina is one of the strongest teams in the country. The Tar Heels entered the year as a top team in the nation, and are still undefeated, despite playing some tough opponents. They are currently ranked as the No. 4 D1 team in the nation.

UNC started the year hosting Texas Tech, beating them in all three games. They then went on to beat another power four opponent, Kansas State, in a midweek matchup.

A quick 4-0 start got a lot better, as the Tar Heels played East Carolina, an in-state opponent, and a premier program in college baseball.

The Pirates were demolished, losing all three, bringing the Tar Heels’ win total up to 7. During midweek, UNC beat VCU and North Carolina A&T, going up to 9-0. They then dominated Stony Brook in a series, to where they are now, currently at 12-0.

UNC was also scheduled for two midweek games this week, and they defeated No. 24 Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, 5-4 in 11 innings, before having the second midweek game against College of Charleston postponed on Wednesday.

Stanford is now headed to face a 13-0 UNC team, which is certainly going to be their toughest test on the schedule to date, and could end up being one of their toughest series of the season.

A series win could truly alter their season, and give them a better chance of going to Omaha, while a loss could put them in a tough place, and a daunting losing streak going into more conference games.

Following their weekend series against North Carolina, Stanford will return home where they'll play a three-game series against the Duke Blue Devils.