University of North Carolina Athletics
It's Opening Day For The Tar Heels
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
February 12, 1999
The North Carolina Tar Heels begin the Mike Fox Era Friday afternoon at the Winn-Dixie Shootout at Riley Park in Charleston, S. C. UNC faces the East Carolina Pirates at 1:30 p.m. in the first game of the round-robin event.
Carolina will face Virginia Commonwealth at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, then play host team The Citadel in another 5:00 p.m. encounter on Sunday.
Fox comes to Carolina after 15 seasons as the head coach at N.C. Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, where he led the Battling Bishops to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Division III College World Series appearances and the 1989 NCAA Divsion III national championship. His teams posted 15 consecutive top-20 finishes in the national polls and won 11 Dixie Conference championships.
Second-year head coach Keith LeClair's Pirates, 30-29 last year, are also playing their first game of the 1999 season ECU is led by Freshman All American John Williamson as well as a strong group of returning players.
Junior right-hander Kyle Snyder (7-6, 3.53 ERA in 1998) will be on the mound for Friday's opener.
Mike Bynum (7-4, 6.11 ERA) will pitch on Saturday, while Corey Richardson (3-2, 2.61 ERA) will start in Sunday's finale.
The Tar Heels open their home schedule Friday, Feb. 19 at 3:00 p.m. in the first of a three-game series against the Seton Hall Pirates.
