If you like playing MLB The Show, be on the lookout for Carolina Blue.
The UNC baseball team is six months removed from its highly-successful, 2025 season, which ended in Game 3 of the Super Regionals against Arizona.
North Carolina dominated the opening game of that series, winning 18-2 and chasing the Wildcats’ starting pitcher early, then offense largely disappeared in clutch time.
Now just two months away from beginning their 2026 campaign, the Diamond Heels have something else to celebrate. In MLB The Show 26, arguably the most popular baseball video game franchise, UNC will be one of 11 new colleges making its debut.
Gamers will be able to choose North Carolina in Road to the Show mode, a popular, first-person adventure in which players fight their way to the majors. Gamers can also choose from Oregon State, one of the Diamond Heels’ greatest baseball rivals, while the other nine new schools will be announced soon.
There are several UNC baseball players currently in the professional ranks, most notably pitcher Zac Gallen and outfielder Vance Honeycutt. Gallen is an ace pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks, while Honeycutt struggled offensively in his first season, as a member of the Baltimore Orioles’ farm system.
North Carolina will kick off its 2026 campaign on Friday, February 13, hosting Indiana for a 3-game series. The Diamond Heels stay in Chapel Hill until a week later, when they play East Carolina in a newly-annual, home-neutral-home series.
Can UNC return to the College World Series for a second time in three seasons? With another talented roster, anchored by slugger Gavin Gallaher and pitcher Jason DeCaro, the possibilities of a trip to Omaha look very possible.
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