University of North Carolina Athletics
FSU Invades Boshamer For Big 3-Game Series
May 12, 2000 | Baseball
May 12, 2000
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No. 7/4/4 FLORIDA STATE (41-12, 13-8 ACC) at No. 15/16/12 NORTH CAROLINA (42-11,11-10 ACC)
May 12-14
oshamer Stadium, Chapel Hill, N.C.
NOTE: ALL GAMES LIVE ON TARHEELBLUE
CAROLINA QUICK FACTS
Probable Starters:
Fri.-Ryan Snare, LHP (3.34 ERA, 9-1, 81 K)
Sat.-Chris Elmore, LHP (3.83 ERA, 8-1, 62 K)
Sun.-Eric Henderson, LHP (4.08 ERA, 6-4, 67 K)
Head Coach: Mike Fox (UNC '78)
Fox's Record at UNC: 83-29 (second year)
Fox's Overall Record: 623-170-4 (16th year)
Assistant Coaches: Chad Holbrook
Roger Williams
Scott Forbes
FLORIDA STATE QUICK FACTS
Probable Starters:
Fri.-Mike Ziegler, RHP (3.13 ERA, 8-3, 111 K)
Sat.-Blair Varnes, RHP (3.65 ERA, 8-2, 62 K)
Sun.-Jon McDonald, RHP (4.36 ERA, 9-3, 64 K)
Head Coach: Mike Martin (Florida State '66)
Martin's Record at FSU: 1,120-376-3 (21st season)
Martin's Overall Record: same
Assistant Coaches: Chip Baker
Jamey Shouppe
Mike Martin Jr.
TAR HEELS CLOSE REGULAR-SEASON WITH FLORIDA STATE SERIES
Carolina concludes its regular season this weekend with a three-game set versus Florida State. The Tar Heels, coming off a week of exams, have not played a game since a May 4 win at Liberty, while FSU enters the game after losing three straight games at Clemson last weekend. Carolina has won 14 of its last 16 games and owns the second most wins in Division I baseball with 42.
UNC looks to improve on its 5-19 record versus the Seminoles since 1992 when FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. Last year, Carolina went to Tallahassee with a No. 3 national ranking, but dropped three straight to Florida State.
CAROLINA POSTS THIRD STRAIGHT 40-WIN SEASON
With Carolina's May 2 win over UNC Greensboro, the Tar Heels reached the 40-win plateau for the third consecutive season (41-18 in 1999, 42-23 in 1998). The only other time in school history that the Tar Heels have posted three-straight 40-win seasons was from 1983-85 when All-Americas B.J. Surhoff and Scott Bankhead as well as current UNC assistant Roger Williams helped pave the way for a 126-40-1 record over three years.
HEELS MAINTAIN RECORD PACE AT THE PLATE
One reason for Carolina's success this year has been a balanced and consistent offensive attack. In fact, Carolina's .329 team batting average through 53 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 64 home runs, compared to 34 by its opponents. Twelve different Tar Heels have hit homers this year, led by Ryan Earey with 12, Tyrell Godwin with 10 and Adam Greenberg, Clay Hooper and Sean Farrell with eight. Earey has three two-home-run games this year for Carolina, including most recently in the 16-1 win at Duke on April 27. Earey went 2-for-4 in that game with six RBIs to lead the UNC offense.
Farrell has a pair of two-home-run games as a freshman this year, while Godwin had two homers, including a grand slam, in the April 18 victory at East Carolina.
TAR HEELS AIM FOR RECORD 30TH HOME WIN
With a 29-3 record this year at Boshamer Stadium, Carolina enters this weekend's FSU series one win away from tying its record for most home victories in a season, a mark that was set in 1993 when the Tar Heels won 30 games in Chapel Hill. Meanwhile, Carolina's .906 home winning percentage is tied for the third best ever at UNC.
In 1985, Carolina was 24-2 (.923) at Boshamer Stadium, while the Tar Heels posted a 23-2 (.920) mark in 1980 and were also 29-3 (.906) in 1990. Including last year's 27-3 mark at home, Carolina has posted a 56-6 (.903) record at home over the last two seasons. Carolina's only three home losses this year have been to Clemson, NC State and Towson.
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.
TAR HEEL PITCHERS HAVE SEVEN SHUTOUTS IN 2000
After finishing eighth in the nation in 1999 with a 3.73 team ERA, Carolina's pitching staff has been solid 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 4.21 team ERA through 53 games and have posted seven shutout wins. Carolina has not had that many shutouts in an entire season since blanking seven opponents in 1978.
FOX GETS 75TH WIN IN RECORD PACE
Second-year head coach Mike Fox, a 1978 UNC graduate and former baseball letterwinner, has led the Tar Heels to a 83-29 record, including a school-best 21-0 start this year and a 16-0 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. In Carolina's 8-2 win at East Carolina on April 18, Fox also became the fastest UNC skipper to get to the 75-win mark. Mike Roberts, Walter Rabb and Bunn Hearn are the only other coaches in Carolina history to post at least 75 wins.
GREENBERG STAYS ON FIRE
Adam Greenberg has had a sensational freshman season for Carolina, leading the team in batting average (.389), hits (81), triples (7), stolen bases (25) and multi-hit games (28). He also has three leadoff homers this season, most recently on April 22 at Virginia. He has started 51 games, missing only the Penn State doubleheader with a sore hamstring.
Greenberg carried a team-high 21-game hitting streak into the Clemson series (April 7-9), before going 0-for-7 in the first two games of the series with the Tigers. But he followed that up with a seven-game hit streak where he was 16-for-30 (.533) at the plate. He's back on a team-high eight-game hitting streak and he's gone hitless in just seven of 51 games this year. In Carolina's last outing, a 7-6 win on May 4 at Liberty, Greenberg led off the game with his seventh triple of the season, which moved him into a second-place tie with current UNC assistant coach Chad Holbrook for the most triples in a single season in Tar Heel history. Rip Ryan holds that record with eight triples in the 1949 season.
Last month, Greenberg was one of the first 20 invites for the U.S. National Team trials to be held this June in Tucson, Ariz.
DEPRIEST A FIXTURE ON NATIONAL ERA LEADERBOARD
Senior reliever Derrick DePriest, who last year led the nation with a 1.71 earned run average, has appeared in 29 games this year and ranks second in the nation with a 1.33 ERA. Princeton's Chris Young, who has appeared in just seven games and pitched 43.0 innings, leads the country with a 1.05 ERA. DePriest has been right on target all season long, but he's been particularly effective over the last month of the season.
DePriest has posted three saves and a win in his last four appearances, and he has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 outings dating back to early April. His 12 saves are tied for the 10th most in the nation and he has 52 strikeouts on the season compared to 21 walks. DePriest has 118 career appearances, good for second all-time in the UNC record book.
ELMORE SAVES HIS BEST FOR LAST
Fifth-year senior Chris Elmore is in the midst of his best season as a Tar Heel at 8-1 with a 3.83 ERA. He's been on a tear since dropping his first decision since April 19, 1997, when he took the loss in a 9-8 defeat at Wake Forest on April 8. He was a hard-luck loser in a game that began on Saturday but was suspended for a day because of rain. The Tar Heels trailed 3-0 with Elmore on the mound in the bottom of the second inning when rain forced the suspension of the game. The two teams resumed play on Sunday with new pitchers, but when Carolina's rally fell short, Elmore was dealt the loss.
He has bounced back with wins in each of his past five starts to move to 8-1 on the season and 18-3 in his career. His .857 career winning percentage is the second highest all-time at UNC behind only All-America Scott Bankhead.
ELMORE RECOGNIZED FOR OFF THE FIELD EXCELLENCE
Chris Elmore was one of the big winners last month at Carolina's annual all-sports dinner. He was UNC's male recipient of the Mildred McCaskill Award, which is given each year by the University to the senior who represents excellence in athletics, academics and community service. Elmore was also one of six student-athletes honored by the Atlantic Coast Conference for his community service, and he was baseball's winner of the Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete Award.
EAREY SHAKES OFF BRUISES, MAKES WAY INTO ACC RECORD BOOK
When Liberty's Darren Adams hit Ryan Earey with a pitch in the fourth inning of Carolina's 7-6 win in Lynchburg, Va., on May 4, Earey became the most hit player in a single season in ACC history. Earey surpassed Florida State's Jose Zabala, who was hit by pitch 24 times in 1997, with his 25th HBP of the season. Remarkably, Earey was actually hit 18 times in the first 21 games of the year, before his pace slowed considerably. Richmond's Andrew Slater holds the NCAA single-season record with 33 HBPs in 56 games in 1997.
SNARE HAVING MEMORABLE JUNIOR SEASON
Junior left-hander Ryan Snare has been outstanding on the mound in 2000, especially since suffering his only defeat of the year, a 5-4 loss at Georgia Tech on March 17. In notching back-to-back wins against NC State (March 25) and Clemson (March 31), Snare posted 13 strikeouts and allowed just one unearned run. Against the Wolfpack, Snare allowed one unearned run on six hits - all singles - over 7.0 innings while striking out six batters for the victory.
On March 31, Snare sent the top-ranked Tigers to their first ACC loss, giving up just two hits while striking out seven over 6.2 innings for the win. On April 14, Snare pitched Carolina's second complete game of the year in handing Maryland an 8-2 loss. Snare allowed just one earned run over nine innings while striking out eight to improve to 7-1 on the season. After posting wins in each of his last two starts - at Duke and versus UNC Greensboro - Snare has a team-best nine wins and ranks second, behind only Georgia Tech's Cory Vance who is 10-2, for the most wins in the ACC.
STREAKING HEELS
Current UNC hitting streaks (minimum four games):
Adam Greenberg: 8 games (has hit in eight straight games and 12 of his last 13 contests ... 4-for-9 in last two games with two RBIs, four runs scored, one triple and one home run.)
Dan Moylan: 7 games (has hit safely in seven straight games and 15 of the last 16 ... has raised batting average from .289 on April 9 to .332 heading into FSU series ... was 3-for-3 on May 4 at Liberty with a double.)
Eric Henderson: 5 games (has made the most of increased time at the plate ... had his first two-hit game as a Tar Heel on May 4 at Liberty.)
Clay Hooper: 4 games (had 3-for-4 game with three RBIs May 3 against Winthrop ... leads the team with 17 doubles, including two in the last four games.)
THREE-GAME SWEEP AT DUKE SENDS HEELS OVER .500 MARK IN ACC
After starting the ACC season 0-4, Carolina has struggled all season long to get back to the .500 mark in conference play. The Tar Heels finally got over the hump with a three-game sweep at Duke (April 27-29). Carolina entered the series having lost two of three games at Virginia but quickly gained control of the series with a 16-1 win in the opener on April 27.
Ryan Earey led the 19-hit attack with two home runs and six RBIs, while Ryan Snare shut down the Blue Devils, allowing just one run in 7.0 innings for the victory. With the middle game of the series rained out, the two teams squared off for a doubleheader on April 29, and Carolina came away with two important wins over Duke to move to 11-10 in league play. Carolina needed a 10th-inning Tyrell Godwin RBI single to pull away from the Blue Devils 5-3, while UNC took the late game 10-6.
CLOSE LOSSES FRUSTRATE HEELS
After starting the season with a school-record 21-game winning streak, Carolina went 15-11 over its next 25 games before rebounding to stand 42-11 overall, 11-10 in ACC play. Eight of Carolina's 11 losses have been by three runs or less, including six by just one run. Only two losses have been by more than five runs.
On April 21, Virginia broke a 5-5 tie in the series opener with an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth to take a 6-5 win over the Tar Heels. In Winston-Salem April 7-9, Carolina dropped a 9-7 decision to Wake Forest in the series opener and lost the next two games 9-8 and 4-3 respectively. The Tar Heels had the tying run at third base in the 9-8 loss on April 8 and UNC again had a runner on base in the ninth inning before surrendering a 4-3 game to the Demon Deacons on April 9.
In mid March, Carolina dropped three one-run games in five days. 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.
TAR HEELS DOWN TERPS WITH THREE-GAME SWEEP
Carolina used 44 runs and 47 hits over three days to sweep Maryland April 14-16 at Boshamer Stadium. Ryan Snare went the distance, striking out eight and giving up just one earned run, in picking up the win in Friday's 8-2 victory to open the series. The Terps led 2-1 through the top half of the seventh, but three runs in the bottom of the seventh and four more in the eighth propelled Carolina to the win.
Carolina again got behind on Saturday, having to dig out of an 8-1 third-inning hole to post a 13-11 win. Matt McCay, who was 3-for-4 with a career-high six RBIs, put the Heels ahead for good with a grand slam in the fourth inning. Carolina's offense was running on all cylinders in Sunday's 23-8 win. Carolina got five runs in the first and led 9-0 through three, while Chris Elmore allowed just one run in seven innings for the win. Tyrell Godwin, Ryan Earey, Sean Farrell and Adam Shearin all homered for the Tar Heels.
CAROLINA TAKES FIRST SERIES FROM CLEMSON SINCE 1990
Carolina took two of three games from Clemson, ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time by Collegiate Baseball, March 31-April 2 in Chapel Hill. After dropping three straight games to Georgia Tech (March 17-19) to open league play, Carolina took two of three from NC State in Chapel Hill (March 24-26) and won the series with the Tigers to move to 4-5 in the conference. Carolina had not won a series with Clemson since the 1990 season.
Ryan Snare had a stellar outing in the series opener to propel Carolina to a 6-0 win. Snare allowed just two hits while striking out seven and walking four over 6.2 scoreless innings for the victory. Ryan Earey and Derrick Depriest combined for 2.1 hitless innings to seal the win and send Clemson to its first ACC loss of the season. After being held hitless into the fifth inning by Clemson ace Scott Berney, Carolina got runs in the fifth and sixth innings and broke open the game with a four-run eighth. On Saturday, Carolina committed a season-high six errors and fell 10-2, but UNC responded with a 5-2 win on Sunday to clinch the series. Chris Elmore, Earey and DePriest combined to give up just five Clemson hits and two unearned runs in the victory.
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, a sweep of Central Florida, Rice and defending national champion Miami at the season-opening ACC/Disney Blast, and a win over in-state rival East Carolina.
TAR HEELS PEAK AT NO. 2 IN NATIONAL POLLS
Carolina, ranked No. 12 this week by Baseball Weekly, 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).
COMEBACKS KEY SUCCESS IN 2000
Carolina's ability to bounce back from big deficits has played a key role in its success this season. Carolina has 19 wins this season that 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 the bottom half of that inning was the difference in a 3-2 UNC victory.
FARRELL AND EAREY HONORED BY ACC
Sean Farrell earned his second ACC Player of the Week honors of the year on 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.
EAREY SPARKLES IN FIRST COLLEGIATE START
Junior right-hander Ryan Earey, usually used as a set-up man out of the bullpen, made his first-ever start April 18 at East Carolina and he came away with one of Carolina's best pitching performances of the season for a win over the 21st-ranked Pirates. Earey, who had single-game career highs of 4.1 innings and four strikeouts entering the game, struck out 12 Pirate batters in eight complete innings for his fourth win of 2000. Tyrell Godwin's two homers, including a third-inning grand slam, sparked the offense as UNC won 8-2 in Greenville.
BLAKE OUT FOR SEASON
Sophomore DH/1B/C Ryan Blake will miss the remainder of the 2000 season due to a partial tear of his right rotator cuff. He underwent surgery in early March and will undergo several months of rehabilitation. Blake had played in nine games this year for the Tar Heels. He was hitting .323 with 13 RBI. At the season-opening ACC/Disney Blast, Blake was named to the all-tournament team after going 5-for-10 at the plate with four runs scored. He propelled the Tar Heels to an 8-2 win over Rice with a two-out, two-run triple in the ninth inning of that game and added a two-run home run in a 9-0 victory over the defending national champion Miami Hurricanes. Blake will apply for a medical red-shirt season and should be ready to rejoin the Tar Heels next fall.
TAR HEELS TAKE 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 March 24-26 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. 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 March 22. 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.
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.
UNC 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 2,031-1,202-36 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.
