Texas Tech's 2025 baseball season will get underway this weekend as the Red Raiders head to No. 6 North Carolina to take on the projected ACC champion that is coming off a College World Series appearance.

The Red Raiders are looking to get back into the postseason and opening on the road against a quality team combined with a strong schedule will allow Tech to put themselves in position to get back to a NCAA Regional.

"Definitely a challenge going into somebody else's ballpark. Environments different, obviously, you got their home crowd, they could build momentum, I guess, from that at times, that's things you got to deal with and a college baseball season, and we're looking forward to seeing how our guys respond to that," Tech head coach Tim Tadlock said.

"I think it's a good challenge. I mean, really, it's probably something that, I think, the guys are looking forward too."

-North Carolina is coming off a CWS appearance and a 48-16 season in 2024, the best showing under HC Scott Forbes, who is entering his fifth season as head coach of UNC, having been on staff in Chapel Hill since 2006.

-UNC and Tech have played once before, facing off in Forbes first season in the 1-0 game of the 2021 Lubbock Regional. Texas Tech knocked off UNC 7-2 behind home runs from Jace Jung and Kurt Wilson and eight strikeouts in 3.2 innings of no-hit relief from Ryan Sublette.

-The trip to UNC is Tech's first true away series to open a season since 1996 when Larry Hays' Red Raiders swept San Diego State to open the year. TTU opened the season heading west in 1994 & 1995, losing series to Grand Canyon and Arizona State.

-The trip is also Tech's first true away season opener traveling out of Texas, to the east, for the first time in the program's history, with the last season opener to the east of Lubbock being the 1984 trip to Hardin-Simmons in Abilene.

3 p.m. Friday (ACCNX): RHP Jack Cebert vs. RHP Jason DeCaro

1 p.m. Saturday (ACCNX): RHP Mac Heuer vs. RHP Aiden Haugh

12 p.m. Sunday (ACCNX): TBD vs. TBA (LHP Folger Boaz)

-Cebert is set to make his Texas Tech debut after transferring in from South Florida, where he was a weekend starter for the past two seasons. Cebert has thrown to the tune of a 5.53 ERA in 151 career innings.

-DeCaro is an enticing prospect for the Tar Heels, a right hander with great life to the fastball with three secondaries he can command. DeCaro's 2024 was strong, a 3.81 ERA in 89.2 innings.

-Heuer is a draft-eligible sophomore coming off a strong 2024 freshman campaign for Tech, and was slotted for the Friday role just a week before the season for Tech but will start the season on Saturday, where he threw the majority of his innings for Tech last season.

-Boaz is a sharp southpaw for the Tar Heels, having great command of his secondaries with a fastball that will run up to the low-90s. His shortened freshman campaign posted a 5.77 ERA in 39 IP.

-Haugh bounced back and forth from the bullpen to the rotation last season, posting 54 innings on just eight starts while striking out an impressive 61 batters to just 27 walks. Haugh is an experienced arm heading into his second season with UNC.

Sophomore C Luke Stevenson

Stevenson is one of the top sophomore-eligible position players in the country after a freshman All-America campaign in 2024. The strong left-handed swinger belted 14 homers in 2024, slashed .284/.420/.535 with 58 RBIs.

CF Kane Kepley

Kepley, another lefty, is a transfer from Liberty, the 2023 ASUN freshman team nod. He has slashed .312/.461/.470 in 381 career at bats, posting 35 extra-base hits and nabbing 42 bags as a baserunner in two seasons.

3B Gavin Gallaher

Gallaher is a sweet-swinging right handed bat who has made a quick impact after being a top-150 recruit in the 2023 class, coming onto the scene with a walk-off grand slam in the Chapel Hill Regional last postseason, capping off a strong season. He slashed .314/.392/.491 in his first season of significant playing time.