North Carolina and LSU dominating college baseball with balance and experience

FILE - In this April 21, 2013 file photo, North Carolina players celebrate their 10-1 win over Duke in an NCAA college baseball game in Chapel Hill, N.C. If there’s a blueprint to survive in this new college baseball world of pitching and defense, it looks like the Tar Heels and Tigers have found it. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker, File) (The Associated Press)

LSU second baseman Casey Yocom (28) gets the Alabama runner at first during their NCAA college baseball game, Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Alabama won 4-3 in the 10th inning. (AP Photo/Alabama Media Group, Vasha Hunt) MAGS OUT (The Associated Press)

It's been three years since college baseball zapped the power from its metal bats, causing the once ubiquitous slugfests to largely disappear.

Nobody has adjusted better than North Carolina and LSU.

Home runs are down more than 50 percent and scoring has plummeted since the NCAA put strict new guidelines on the sport's bats, causing them to behave much more like their wood counterparts at the professional level.

Instead of complaining, the Tar Heels and Tigers have discovered the blueprint to success in the new era.

North Carolina (39-3) and LSU (37-4) are the class of college baseball so far this season. The Tar Heels just finished a 14-game winning streak and the Tigers are off to their best start in the program's storied history.