Three Tar Heels Pitchers Named To D1Baseball All-America Teams

D1Baseball announced three North Carolina pitchers were included in its All-America teams for 2025. Jake Knapp, Ryan Lynch and Walker McDuffie received the honors on Tuesday.

The three pitchers were the core of the staff that completed the 2025 campaign with the third best ERA in the country. Knapp was named to the first team by D1Baseball, which gives his four first-team selections on six national lists.

Knapp had a stellar season as he finished with a 2.02 ERA, which was good enough for fourth in the country among the Power 4 conferences. He punched out 88 batters via strikeout and only issued 16 walks in 102.1 innings pitched.

He had a WHIP (Walks + Hits / Innings Pitched) of .86 which was the third best in the country. He was just ,03 away from setting a new program record. He went 27 innings over four starts without issuing a walk. He would not allow a walk in four of his last five starts.

Lynch and McDuffie, both freshman, collected their third and fourth freshman All-America honors of the postseason respectively. They had fantastic frosh campaigns. The two combined for an 8-4 record, nine saves and a 3.32 ERA. They totaled 145 strikeouts in 116.2 innings pitched.

Lynch joined the rotation in the postseason, but he was a very proficient reliever during the regular season. He led the relievers in ERA with a 2.93. He made three starts in the ACC Championship Game and two elimination games in the NCAA tournament. He rose to the challenge in each start as he just allowed four earned runs in 16 innings. He had held opponents to a .167 batting average and amassed 18 strikeouts.

McDuffie was in the pen all season. He led the team with 28 appearances and 55.1 innings pitched in relief. He had three shutouts and accumulated 72 strikeouts. He was selected as an All-ACC Freshman team member. His seven saves were the most by a freshman since 2013.

Speaking of Tar Heels Baseball, D1Baseball's staff also announced UNC as a consensus pick for next year's College World Series in Omaha. Ten writers selected the eight teams to make the World Series and seven of the scribes selected the Tar Heels.

It was the fourth-most votes after UCLA (10), reigning NCAA champion LSU (8) and Texas (8). Other programs finishing in the top eight were 2024 NCAA champion Tennessee (6), TCU (5), Auburn (4) and Alabama (3).

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