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BASEBALL: Second-Ranked North Carolina Opens ACC Slate At Duke

Mar 6, 2008

FIRST PITCH: No. 2 North Carolina opens Atlantic Coast Conference action this weekend with a three-game series at Duke’s Jack Coombs Field beginning Friday. The Tar Heels (8-1) and Blue Devils (11-0) will play at 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. A webcast of all three games will available live and on-demand through ACC Select, and 850 AM The Buzz will carry the Tar Heel Sports Network’s coverage with Jones Angell and Adam Lucas on the call.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: North Carolina is ranked in the top five of all four major polls, including the No. 2 spot in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll. Duke is unranked.

SERIES HISTORY: North Carolina leads its all-time series with Duke, 167-91-2, and holds a 114-34-1 edge in games played since the formation of the ACC in 1954. The Tar Heels have won 17 of their last 19 meetings with the Blue Devils over the last six seasons. Carolina last dropped a series to Duke in 2001 (2-1 in Chapel Hill). Head coach Mike Fox is 25-4 versus the Blue Devils since 1999 and has led his club to series sweeps of the Blue Devils in four of the last six years. The Tar Heels have swept four of the last five series in Durham dating to 1998.

RECENT HISTORY VS. DUKE: Dustin Ackley hit just .231 (3-13) against the Blue Devils a year ago ... Tim Federowicz is a career .320 hitter (8-25) with four RBI against Duke ... Tim Fedroff hit .455 (5-11) in last year’s series ... Chad Flack has hit .325 (13-40) with four home runs and 13 RBI in nine games against Duke ... Garrett Gore owns a .438 average (7-16) in five games vs. the Blue Devils ... Seth Williams is a .280 hitter (7-25) against Duke ... Rob Wooten allowed one run on two hits over 1 2/3 innings in one career appearance against Duke.

CARLYLE CUP: One point in the race towards the Carlyle Cup, the all-sports competition between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils, is on the line this weekend. The winner of the series will add a point to its school’s total for the 2007-08 academic year. UNC enters the weekend with a 12-3 lead in the standings.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS: At 11-0, Duke is off to its second-best start in school history. The Blue Devils are batting .338 as a team with three regulars batting better than .400. Alex Hassan leads the way with a .465 average to go along with one home run and 11 RBI. On the mound, Duke owns a 1.55 ERA. The rotation for the weekend will be RHP Andrew Wolcott (1-0, 1.64), RHP Will Currier (2-0, 0.75) and RHP Grant Monroe (2-0, 1.80).

LAST TIME OUT: Right fielder Tim Fedroff went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and three RBI, and No. 2 North Carolina scored nine times over the first four innings en route to a 10-2 win over William & Mary Tuesday at Cary’s USA Baseball National Training Complex.

Fedroff singled to lead off the game, drove in a run in the second on a sacrifice fly and hit his third home run of the season in the fourth. Additionally, shortstop Garrett Gore, who had two RBI, first baseman Dustin Ackley, third baseman Chad Flack and left fielder Ben Bunting had two hits apiece for Carolina. Ackley, who was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and second baseman Kyle Seager hit safely for the fifth straight game.

Freshman right-hander Matt Harvey (1-0) picked up the win in a predetermined staff outing.

PITCHING POWERS STREAK: Carolina has reeled off five straight wins behind its pitching staff, which owns a 1.20 ERA over this stretch. The Tar Heels have struck out 42 batters and issued just 18 walks in 45 innings. Opponents are hitting just .209 over this run. Only four of the 14 pitchers to work in the last five games have allowed an earned run, and no pitcher has given up more than two earned runs in the last five contests.

HEELS SHORE UP DEFENSE: Carolina opened the year with 10 errors over its first four games and eight errors over a two-game stretch. Since then, the Tar Heels have made just four total errors over the last five games for a .980 fielding percentage over this stretch.

ROAD WARRIORS: This season is a break from the ordinary for the Tar Heels, who will play 10 of their first 12 games on the road. In 2007, Carolina played just one of its first 23 contests away from Boshamer Stadium. The last time UNC opened a season with a similar stretch was 1985 when it played 14 of its first 15 games outside of Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are 7-0 on the road or at neutral sites this season.

BREAKING OUT THE BATS: Carolina has clubbed 15 home runs over its first nine games, including 11 in its series sweep at Florida Atlantic. Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff, Kyle Seager and Seth Williams share the team lead with three homers apiece. Seager hit just two all last season, and Fedroff hit five in 2007.

STARTERS, BULLPEN COMPARISON: Over the last six games, Carolina’s starters have allowed just four earned runs over 25 2/3 innings for a 1.40 ERA. The bullpen has been even better with just three earned runs over 29 1/3 innings for a 0.92 ERA. As a whole, the staff sports a 1.15 ERA in the last six games with 58 strikeouts in 55 innings.

ROOKIES SHINE ON THE MOUND: The Tar Heels are going to have to rely on a youth movement in their bullpen for much of this season. Carolina has already used a freshman or redshirt freshman in 17 of its 31 relief appearances this year with positive results. Rookie right-handers Colin Bates, Ryan Leach and Nate Striz have combined for five wins out of the bullpen.

VETERAN LINEUP RETURNS: The Tar Heels opening day starting lineup featured seven position starters back in the fold from 2007. All eight position starters have made at last 45 career starts and they have each been very productive players. The lowest career average among the eight players is .288.

Career Stats For UNC’s Probable Starters
Player Starts Career Avg.
Chad Flack 204 .316
Seth Williams 162 .291
Tim Federowicz 148 .325
Dustin Ackley 82 .413
Garrett Gore 74 .288
Tim Fedroff 65 .328
Kyle Seager 57 .319
Kyle Shelton 45 .288

PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: After back-to-back national runner-up finishes, the Tar Heels ended the 2007 season ranked No. 2 in the national polls for the second year in a row. This season, Carolina opened the year ranked No. 2 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll.

HEELS PICKED TO REPEAT: Defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion North Carolina is favored to repeat as the league champion in 2008, as determined by a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches. The back-to-back national runner-up Tar Heels were also picked to win the Coastal Division for the third-straight year, while Florida State was predicted to capture its second Atlantic title.

FOX REACHES 400: Tenth-year head coach Mike Fox reached the 400-win mark at Carolina Feb. 24 with a 14-13 win over Florida Atlantic. Only two other UNC coaches have reached this plateau - Mike Roberts (780) and Walter Rabb (540). Fox owns a 946-318-5 record in 24 years at Carolina and North Carolina Wesleyan and is 406-177-1 at UNC.

ALL-AMERICA QUINTET: Five Tar Heels have earned preseason All-America honors from at least one media outlet heading into the 2008 campaign: OF/1B Dustin Ackley, C Tim Federowicz, RHP Adam Warren, RHP Alex White and RHP Rob Wooten. Ackley is a consensus preseason All-America pick, while Federowicz was honored by three outlets.

WOOTEN TO CLOSE: Senior Rob Wooten, who led the NCAA and set an ACC record with 47 appearances a year ago, will move to the closer role this season. He will replace All-America Andrew Carignan, who saved a school-record 18 games in 2007. Wooten pitched in only 19 games over his first two seasons but dropped his arm slot with great success a year ago. He went 6-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 2007 and sports a 1.80 ERA and has two saves in 10 innings this season.

SHIFT ON THE INFIELD: Junior Garrett Gore and sophomore Kyle Seager split time at second base last season, but in 2008 this duo will serve as the Tar Heels’ starting middle infield. Gore shifts over to short to replace All-America Josh Horton, while Seager takes over the everyday job at second. Both players hit better than .308 a year ago and combined for 57 RBI. Gore has not started the last two games due to a hamstring injury.

FLACK RECORD WATCH: Senior Chad Flack enters his final campaign with a shot at several UNC career records. The Forest City, N.C., is on pace to break Carolina records for career games played, hits and at-bats and has a chance at several other marks.

Chad Flack On UNC’s Career Lists
Category Rank Total Needed for Record
Hits 7th 260 32
HR 9th 36 22
RBI 8th 169 46
XB Hits 8th 84 40
At-Bats 6th 824 112
Tot. Bases 6th 421 95

ROOKIE HONORS: Freshman pitchers and 2007 MLB Draft Picks Matt Harvey and Nate Striz are expected to play big roles for the Tar Heels this season, and they are rated among the top rookies in college baseball. Harvey has been recognized by CSTV and Rivals.com as one of the nation’s top freshmen, and both Harvey and Striz were listed among the ACC’s top five newcomers by Baseball America. Harvey is 1-0 with a 1.04 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings, while Striz owns a 1.35 ERA, a win and a save in four relief appearances.

BUILDING A BETTER BOSH: Carolina will play its 32 home games in 2008 at Cary’s USA Baseball National Training Complex while Boshamer Stadium undergoes an estimated $25.5 million renovation. The Tar Heels will be back on campus in time for the 2009 season. In the meantime, they will make the roughly 25-minute commute to the Cary facility for games and practice.

TAR HEELS SIGN 10: Carolina has continued its success on the recruiting trail by signing a 10-man class last November that will join the program next fall in time for the 2009 season. This group features five of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects for next June’s draft:

* Seth Baldwin (OF, Forest City, N.C.)
* Derrik Gibson (SS/OF, Seaford, Del.)
* Matt Harrison (SS, Henderson, Nev.)
* L.J. Hoes (OF, Washington, D.C.)
* Jason Knapp (RHP, Annandale, N.J.)
* Garrison Lassiter (SS, Clemmons, N.C.);
* Tim Melville (RHP/3B, Wentzville, Mo.)
* Jimmy Messer (RHP, Hudson, N.C.)
* Quinton Miller (RHP, Medford, N.J.)
* Jacob Stallings (C, Nashville, Tenn.)