Top-Ranked Clemson Comes To Boshamer Stadium

March 30, 2000

No. 4/1/4 CLEMSON (23-4, 3-0 ACC) at No. 10/13/8 NORTH CAROLINA (25-5, 2-4 ACC)
March 31- April 2, 2000
oshamer Stadium, Chapel Hill, N.C.

NOTE: ALL GAMES LIVE ON TARHEELBLUE

CAROLINA QUICK FACTS
Probable Starters:
Fri.-Ryan Snare, LHP (4.70 ERA, 5-1, 40 K)
Sat.-Eric Henderson, LHP (4.01 ERA, 4-2, 45 K)
Sun.-Chris Elmore, LHP (4.68 ERA, 2-0, 33 K)
Head Coach: Mike Fox (UNC '78)
Fox's Record at UNC: 66-23 (second year)
Fox's Overall Record: 606-164-4 (16th year)
Assistant Coaches: Chad Holbrook
Roger Williams
Scott Forbes

CLEMSON QUICK FACTS
Probable Starters:
Fri.-Scott Berney, RHP (1.02 ERA, 7-0, 37 K)
Sat.-Jarrod Schmidt, RHP (2.23 ERA, 3-0, 29 K)
Sun.-Ryan Mottl, RHP (1.98 ERA, 5-1, 34 K)
Head Coach: Jack Leggett (Maine '76)
Leggett's Record at Clemson: 311-119 (7th season)
Leggett's Overall Record: 688-406 (21st season)
Assistant Coaches: Tim Corbin
Kevin O'Sullivan
Hank King

TAR HEELS HOST CLEMSON
In the midst of a 10-game homestand, No. 8 North Carolina hosts top-ranked Clemson for a three-game ACC series at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina opened the season with a school-record 21-game win streak before dropping four in a row, but the Tar Heels have rebounded and are winners of four of their past five games to stand 25-5 overall and 2-4 in the ACC. Clemson, ranked No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and No. 4 by both Baseball Weekly and Baseball America, is 23-4, 3-0 in league play.

The Tigers are coming off their first road game since the ACC/Disney Blast in January, a 10-6 loss at Georgia on Wednesday. Clemson leads the all-time series between the two schools 77-61-1. Last year, Carolina dropped the first two games at Clemson before scoring a 7-5 win on Sunday to finish the series. The last time the Tar Heels won a series with the Tigers was in 1990, when UNC took all three games of a three-game set in Chapel Hill.

CAROLINA TAKES TWO OF THREE FROM NC STATE TO GET IN ACC WIN COLUMN
After dropping three straight games at Georgia Tech to open the ACC season, Carolina hosted rival NC State last weekend in search of its first conference victory. The Wolfpack got to starter Eric Henderson early and held off a late Tar Heel rally for a 14-11 victory in the series opener to drop UNC to 0-4 in league play. But the Tar Heels responded with two straight wins over the weekend and stand 2-4 in the ACC heading into this weekend. In a 5-2 win on Saturday, Carolina used a 17-hit attack and solid pitching from starter Ryan Snare to top the Wolfpack. Tyrell Godwin and Adam Greenberg were both 4-for-4 at the plate, while Snare allowed just one unearned run for his fifth win. On Sunday, Sean Farrell led the way with two home runs as Carolina prevailed 4-1.

TAR HEELS END FOUR-GAME SKID WITH BIG WIN OVER TOWSON
After starting the season with a school-record 21-game winning streak, Carolina dropped three games at Georgia Tech March 17-19 and a disappointing 9-8 contest to Towson March 21. But the Tar Heels responded with one of their biggest wins in school history in topping Towson 25-2 on Wednesday. Carolina used a balanced attack to produce 27 hits, while four UNC pitchers combined to hold the Tigers to just three hits.

According to school records, Carolina's 25 runs tied for its fifth most all-time and its 23-run margin of victory tied as the third most lopsided win in school history. Ryan Earey had two home runs in the game and tied his career high with seven RBI, while Matt McCay had a career-high tying four hits in five at bats. Five additional Tar Heels had multi-hit games in the win.

CLOSE LOSSES THE DIFFERENCE IN TOUGH STRETCH FOR CAROLINA
In a season that's been marked by several incredible comeback victories for the Tar Heels, Carolina's good fortune in close games turned sour March 17-21 in dropping three games by one-run margins. Georgia Tech ended Carolina's 21-game winning streak on March 17 with a 5-4 victory in Atlanta. Two days later, the Yellow Jackets completed a series sweep with an 8-7 win and Towson handed UNC its fourth consecutive loss with a 9-8 win on March 21.

In the March 17 contest at Tech, Carolina rallied from a 5-2 deficit with a run in the eighth inning and another in the ninth before falling just short of the comeback. The final out of the game came with Tar Heel runners on first and third base. On March 19th, a three-run home run by Ryan Earey in the sixth-inning put Carolina ahead of the Yellow Jackets 7-6. The two teams entered the ninth inning tied 7-7, but a throwing error at the plate helped Tech score the winning run in the 8-7 victory. Meanwhile, in its 9-8 defeat at the hands of Towson, four UNC runs in the bottom of the ninth inning were not enough to erase a 9-4 lead by the Tigers, giving Carolina its third one-run loss in five days.

ANOTHER RECORD START IN 2000
For the second year in a row under head coach Mike Fox, Carolina opened the season with a record start. A year after posting its best start in school history as well as the all-time best UNC winning streak with a 16-0 start in 1999, Carolina broke those records with a 21-0 start in 2000. The 21-game UNC winning streak ranks as the second best of all-time in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clemson's 26-0 start in 1977 is the both the best start to a season and the longest winning streak in league history. Of Carolina's 21 wins to open the 2000 campaign, seven came against ranked opponents, including a three-game sweep of then-No. 2 UCLA in Westwood and a sweep of Central Florida, Rice and defending national champion Miami at the season-opening ACC/Disney Blast.

NO. 2 NATIONAL RANKING WAS HIGHEST IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Carolina, ranked No. 8 this week in the USA Today Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches' Poll, spent back-to-back weeks (March 6 and 13) ranked No. 2 in the nation by both Collegiate Baseball and Baseball Weekly, which was Carolina's all-time highest national ranking. Carolina spent two weeks ranked No. 3 last year by Baseball America (March 15 and 22).

TOWSON ENDS HOME WINNING STREAK
When Towson held off a late UNC rally to take a 9-8 win over the Tar Heels on March 21, the Tigers became the first non-ACC team to win at Boshamer Stadium since Feb. 21, 1998, ending a streak of 52 straight home wins for Carolina over non-conference foes. Seton Hall won that 1998 game 6-3 over the Tar Heels. Last year, Carolina posted one of its most successful seasons ever at home, winning 27 of 30 games for a .900 winning percentage. Carolina is 16-1 at Boshamer Stadium in 2000.

COMEBACKS HAVE BEEN KEY
Twelve of Carolina's 25 wins this season have come after the Tar Heels have trailed at one point in the game. Most notably, Carolina went into the ninth inning of the Feb. 18 game at UCLA trailing 13-4 before scoring 13 runs in the top half of that inning to prevail 17-13 at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Two days later, Carolina trailed 6-0 after two innings to the Bruins, but an 11-run fourth inning put the Tar Heels ahead for good as they prevailed in that rain-shortened game 12-11.

Carolina also faced a 2-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the 10th inning in the second game of the Penn State doubleheader (Feb. 13), but three runs in bottom half of that inning was the difference in a 3-2 UNC victory. Against NC State on March 24, Carolina trailed 14-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. The Tar Heels rallied for seven runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth before the dramatic UNC comeback bid fell short with the potentital tying run at the plate.

FARRELL HONORED FOR SECOND TIME BY ACC
Sean Farrell earned his second ACC Player of the Week honors of the year on Monday (March 27) after a week that saw him bat 8-for-19 (.421) with 10 RBI and six runs scored. In three games against NC State, Farrell had three homers and knocked in six runs to help the Tar Heels to wins in two of three games.

In the series opener on March 24, Farrell sparked a seven-run seventh inning with a three-run home run to left field, and in the 4-1 win on Sunday Farrell hit two homers to drive in three runs. He tied the game 1-1 in the fifth inning with a solo shot and then put Carolina ahead for good in the seventh with a two-run homer to right-center field. He was also named Player of the Week on Feb. 21 by the ACC after an outstanding three games at UCLA. Against the Bruins, he was 5-for-10 with nine RBI and he homered twice.

Junior Ryan Earey was recognized as the ACC's Player of the Week on Feb. 28 for a stretch that included 7-for-14 hitting, 10 runs batted in and 2.1 innings of scoreless relief pitching. Earey led Carolina to wins over No. 19 East Carolina and a three-game sweep of Seton Hall. In UNC's 15-8 win over Seton Hall on Feb. 26, Earey was 3-for-3, including a three-run homer to deep center field, and he knocked in a career-high-tying seven runs.

HITS KEEP COMING FOR GREENBERG
Adam Greenberg is off to a sensational start to his UNC career, leading the team in batting average (.426), hits (46), triples (3) and stolen bases (16). He has started 28 games, missing only the Penn State doubleheader with a sore hamstring, and has hit in 21 straight contests dating back to the Feb. 23 win over East Carolina. Of those 21 games, he has had 13 mulit-hit games and he has helped Carolina to wins in four of the past five games by batting an astounding 13-for-20 (.615) in that stretch. Against NC State on March 25, he had a career-high four hits in four at bats.

FOX GETS 50TH CAROLINA WIN IN UCLA SWEEP
Second-year head coach Mike Fox, a 1978 UNC graduate and former baseball letterwinner, has led the Tar Heels to a 66-23 record, including a school-best 21-0 start this year and a 22-2 start to the 1999 campaign, since returning to his alma mater in May of 1998. With Carolina's three-game sweep of UCLA Feb. 18-20, Fox became the quickest Tar Heel skipper to reach the 50-win mark in history. Bill Fetzer, Carolina's head coach from 1921-25, previously held that distinction, leading UNC to a 50-16-4 mark in his first 70 games at the helm.

TAR HEEL TIDBITS

After picking up wins in each of his first four starts as well as in two appearances out of the bullpen, freshman right-hander Scott Autrey struggled in a start Tuesday against Coastal Carolina. Autrey threw 11 straight balls to open the game and never recovered against the Chanticleers, surrending three runs, three walks and two hits in 0.2 innings before being lifted. He still leads the team however with six wins overall and he's been a very dependable mid-week start in his first year in Chapel Hill.

In the four games since Ryan Earey's 3-for-4 (including two home runs), seven RBI performance against Towson on March 22, the big-hitting junior is just 3-for-19 with two RBI. Earey has been a threat both on the mound and at the plate this year for Carolina. He has made nine pitching appearances and earned his third win in the series-ending 4-1 win over NC State on March 26. He allowed no runs and just one hit over 3.1 innings against the Wolfpack. Despite his recent woes at the plate, Earey leads Carolina with eight home runs, 33 runs scored and 41 RBI. He's also been hit by an amazing 20 pitches in 30 games.

Sean Farrell, this week's ACC Player of the Week, has hit in seven straight games. That inclues three two-hit games, including last Sunday's 2-for-4 outing with two home runs and three RBI.

Since the start of ACC play, Tyrell Godwin has hit in eight of nine games and is 17-for-38 at the plate (.447) with eight runs scored and 12 RBI. Godwin leads the team with 16 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI games.

Freshman centerfielder Adam Greenberg is riding a UNC season-long 21-game hitting streak, and he's had 13 multi-hit games in that streak. He ranks second behind Tyrell Godwin with 15 multi-hit games on the year. He has batted leadoff in 24 games in 2000.

Since tossing Carolina's only complete game of the year, a March 11 win over Richmond, junior transfer Eric Henderson has struggled on the mound. In two ACC starts, Henderson has allowed 12 runs on 14 hits over 8.0 innings. In his first relief appearance, Henderson pitched 2.0 scoreless innings on Tuesday against Coastal Carolina.

Carolina's team leader with 11 doubles, Clay Hooper enters the Clemson series riding a 10-game hitting streak.

Jay Madeira made his first pitching appearance of the season against Towson on March 21. He allowed just one run on three hits over 3.1 innings.

Chris Maples, used early in the season as a late-inning middle infielder, has started four of the past five games at third base. In those four starts he has hit 7-for-14 (.500) and scored six runs. On the season, five of his 13 hits have been doubles.

Ryan Mathews hit his first career home run as a Tar Heel with a two-out, pinch hit homer in the ninth inning at Georgia Tech on March 17.

Matt McCay matched a career high with four hits in five at bats, including two doubles, in the 25-2 win over Towson on March 22. He has hit in eight straight games entering this weekend.

After struggling through the first month and a half of the season at the plate, catcher Dan Moylan has been on a tear as of late. He has hit in six of the past seven games and is 11-for-24 (.458) while scoring nine runs. He has hit 2-for-4 in five of those outings, including all three games of the NC State series. He has also been walked eight times over that period and leads the team in that category with 29 for the season.

Since allowing six runs, five of them earned in 1.2 innings against Towson on March 21, Matt Tanner has not allowed a run in his past 6.0 innings of work. That includes 2.0 innings of one-hit ball in relief against NC State on March 24, and 4.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen against Coastal Carolina. He was credited with the first win of his career in that March 28 game against the Chanticleers.

After giving up five runs on seven hits at Georgia Tech (March 17) for his first loss of the year, Ryan Snare was excellent in gaining his first last weekend against NC State. Snare allowed just one unearned run in seven innings for the win.

PITCHING HAS BEEN ON TARGET
After finishing eighth in the nation in 1999 with a 3.73 team ERA, Carolina's pitching staff has been solid thus far in 2000, especially considering the loss of first-round draft picks Kyle Snyder and Mike Bynum from last year's rotation. The Tar Heels have a 4.31 team ERA through 30 games and have already posted six shutout wins. Carolina has not had that many shutouts in an entire season since blanking six opponents in 1990.

BIG BATS HAVE HEELS HITTING AT RECORD PACE
One reason for Carolina's success this year has been a balanced and consistent offensive attack. In fact, Carolina's .340 team batting average through 30 games is on pace to be the best in school history. Carolina posted an all-time best .322 team average in 1984. In addition, UNC has hit 40 home runs compared to 25 by its opponents. Eleven different Tar Heels have hit homers this year, led by Ryan Earey with eight, Sean Farrell with seven and Tyrell Godwin with six. Earey and Farrell both already have two two-home run games this year, including a multiple homer game by Farrell in the 4-1 win over NC State on March 26.

DEPRIEST CLIMBS IN UNC RECORD BOOK
Derrick DePriest is currently in second place in the Carolina record book for all-time appearances with 103. The senior right-hander, who last year led the nation with a 1.71 ERA, has appeared 14 games this year. He has allowed just three earned runs and has struck out 29 batters in 27 innings with just 12 walks for a 1.00 ERA. In the 10-3 win over Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, he earned his fifth save. He entered the game in the top of the seventh with Carolina holding on to a 6-3 lead. He struck out three batters in 2.1 innings while the Tar Heels exteneded their lead with four run sin the bottom of the eighth.

ELMORE CONTINUES WINNING WAYS IN 2000
Chris Elmore continued his winning ways in the season's first weekend in guiding the Tar Heels to a 9-0 win over Miami at the ACC Disney Blast. The senior left-hander pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up just four hits to up his career record to 11-2 while earning his first win of the season. A victory on March 5 against West Virginia improved his all-time winning percentage to .857, which ranks second all-time at Carolina. He has not lost a decision since April 19, 1997.

BIG INNINGS PROPEL CAROLINA PAST UCLA
Carolina notched a 13-run ninth inning on Friday and an 11-run fourth on Sunday in taking three straight games from UCLA Feb. 18-20 in Westwood. The second-ranked Bruins held a 13-4 advantage heading into the ninth inning of the Feb. 18 contest before the Tar Heels exploded for 13 runs in the top of the ninth to score a dramatic 17-13 come-from-behind victory. Two days later, Carolina trailed 6-0 early, but responded with an 11-run fourth inning to pull ahead of UCLA 11-6. Carolina eventually won the six-inning (rain) game 12-11 to complete a three-game sweep of the Bruins. On Saturday, Eric Henderson had his third consecutive solid outing for the Tar Heels, as he scattered three runs on four hits over 6.0 innings while striking out nine to earn his second win of the season.

TAR HEELS START SEASON WITH A BLAST
Carolina got off to a tremendous start to the 2000 season when it traveled to the ACC/Disney Baseball Blast in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and came away with three straight wins over a strong field of non-conference opponents. The Tar Heels opened the three-day, season-opening tournament at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex with a come-from-behind 9-6 win over No. 23 Central Florida. On Saturday, UNC scored eight runs in the final two innings to erase a 2-0 deficit and defeat No. 14 Rice 8-2. Carolina capped the weekend with a 9-0 win over defending national champion Miami. The 9-0 shutout of the fifth-ranked Hurricanes was just the second time Miami had been held scoreless since 1975. Ryan Blake, Chris Elmore, Adam Greenberg and Dan Moylan were each named to the All-Tournament team.

FRESHMEN MAKE IMPRESSIVE DEBUT AT DISNEY
Three true freshmen, Adam Greenberg, Russ Adams and Chad Prosser all saw considerable playing time in Carolina's season-opening tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. All three, as well as junior transfer Eric Henderson, got off to tremendous starts to their respective Carolina careers. Greenberg started all three games in centerfield and was 6-for-12 at the plate with four RBI, four runs scored, a triple and three stolen bases in making the all-tournament team. Adams was Carolina's starting third baseman against Central Florida and Rice and he was 1-for-2, scoring twice in the 9-6 win over the Golden Knights. Prosser started two games at second and one at short and batted 3-for-9, including a 2-for-3 performance with one RBI and two runs scored against Central Florida. Meanwhile, Henderson earned the start against Rice and gave up just two runs on three hits in 6.1 innings in his debut.

CAROLINA PASSES 2,000-WIN PLATEAU AGAINST SETON HALL
Carolina celebrated its 2,000th all-time win early in the season by defeating Seton Hall 8-0 on Feb. 25. In 111 seasons, the Tar Heels have posted a 2,014-1,196-36 all-time record and are coming off their most productive decade in history. Carolina won 379 games in the 1990s and posted four seasons with more than 40 victories.

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