University of North Carolina Athletics
Baseball Hosts Wake Forest This Weekend
March 15, 2001 | Baseball
March 15, 2001
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (14-4)
at
North Carolina Tar Heels (15-4)
TAR HEELS OPEN ACC VERSUS WAKE FOREST
Carolina opens the ACC season with a three-game series this weekend versus Wake Forest at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels are 134-107-3 all-time against the Demon Deacons in a series that dates back to 1891. UNC dropped all three games at Wake last year and also lost an 8-7 heartbreaker in 13 innings to the Deacons in the 2000 ACC Tournament.
UNC PITCHING ROTATION
Fri. - Daniel Moore (2-0, 3.57 ERA)
Sat. - Dennis Robinson (1-0, 5.27 ERA)
Sun. - Scott Autrey (1-1, 6.10 ERA)
HEELS SWEPT AT WAKE FOREST IN 2000
Last year in Winston-Salem Wake Forest took three games from Carolina, it?s first season sweep of UNC since 1991. Three Wake Forest runs in the bottom of the eighth inning helped the Demon Deacons score a 9-7 comeback win in the opener of the regular-season series and Wake followed with two one-run wins in the final two games for the sweep. Carolina and Wake met in the opening round of the ACC Tournament, and again the Tar Heels fell by one run to the Demon Deacons, dropping an 8-7, 13-inning game at Knights Stadium in Fort Mill, S.C.
UNC RANKED 29TH BY COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL
Carolina is ranked No. 29 in the nation in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper?s latest poll. UNC, which has been ranked as high as No. 26, debuted in the national polls at 29th on Feb. 26. Carolina has also received votes in Baseball Weekly?s Top 25 poll, but has not officially entered those rankings. Last year, the Tar Heels peaked at a school-best No. 2 in polls released March 6 and 13.
FOX WINS 100th GAME IN RECORD PACE
Now in his third season as the head coach at North Carolina, Mike Fox reached the 100-win plateau faster than any other coach in Carolina history with a 9-3 victory over Le Moyne College on March 9. Mike Roberts, Bunn Hearn and Walter Rabb are the only other UNC coaches with at least 100 wins at Carolina.
CAROLINA HAS BEEN HARD TO BEAT AT HOME IN MIKE FOX ERA
Carolina is 70-10 (.875) at Boshamer Stadium under Mike Fox (since 1999), which includes a 17-7 mark againt ACC competition and a 53-3 mark against non-league foes. Two years ago, the Tar Heels opened the ACC season by winning two of three games from the Demon Deacons at Boshamer Stadium. Since 1998, Carolina is actually 75-4 in non-conference home games.
UNC PERFECT IN ONE-RUN GAMES
With Carolina?s dramatic 8-7 win in 11 innings over UCLA on March 2, the Tar Heels are now 6-0 in one-run games, compared to 8-8 in games decided by a single run last year. Russ Adams hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Bruins for the 8-7 win. Adams also provided the game-winner in comeback wins over James Madison and Minnesota, two games in which the Tar Heels rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth for 7-6 wins. Against JMU on Feb. 11, Adams had a bases-clearing triple to rally the Heels from a 6-4 deficit. On Feb. 18, Adams drove in the game-winner on a single against the Gophers.
PLENTY OF PITCHERS SEEING TIME FOR UNC
After losing nearly its entire pitching staff to the MLB Draft and graduation the past two years -- gone are 38 of 46 wins, 14 of 15 saves and 82.4 percent of UNC?s total innings pitched from last year -- Carolina has nine true freshmen pitchers on its roster. Throw in senior transer Jason Howell and junior transfer Ralph Roberts and the Tar Heels have plenty of new faces on the mound in 2001. As a result, 14 different pitchers have seen action through 19 games. In fact, UNC has used an average of 4.2 different pitchers per game, while last year the Tar Heels averaged 3.0 pitchers per game over its 63-game schedule.
HEELS HAVE CLICKED IN FEBRUARY UNDER FOX
After recording a 10-2 mark this year in February, the Tar Heels are 30-2 now under third-year head coach Mike Fox in the month of February. Carolina, 10-0 in both 1999 and 2000 in February, got off to school-record 16-0 and 21-0 starts in Fox?s first two years.
RUSS ADAMS COMES UP BIG IN THE CLUTCH
Carolina?s regular starting second baseman, Russ Adams has become one of Carolina?s biggest threats at the plate. Adams, who ranks fifth among UNC regulars with a .312 batting average, leads the team with 24 hits, 22 runs scored and 10 extra-base hits. Adams is also among the team leaders with 15 RBIs and he?s ended three games thus far with game-winning hits. On Tuesday at Coastal Carolina, Adams? two-out, RBI double in the eighth inning tied the game at 9-9 as UNC rallied for a 12-9 victory.
LONE SENIOR GETTING IT DONE ON THE MOUND AND AT THE PLATE
Stocked with 15 freshmen, Carolina has just one senior on its 2001 roster, transfer Jason Howell. A three-year letterwinner at Appalachian State University, Howell enrolled at UNC in the fall and has made an immediate impact for the Tar Heels in the young season. Howell has seen time as the DH, at first base and on the mound and he ranks fourth on the team with a .315 batting average. Howell?s also pitched 19.1 innings of relief, striking out 14 batters while allowing just two runs in earning a team-high five wins and three saves in ten appearances.
ROBERTS BEGINNING TO SHINE
Ralph Roberts, who transferred to Carolina from Lenoir Community College, was expected to make an immediate contribution when he arrived at UNC in the fall. Roberts, who has already been drafted three times but instead opted to attend UNC, leads the team with a .355 batting average and has been on a tear as of late. Roberts is riding a career-high five-game hitting streak, including three-straight two-hit games, and he?s among UNC's leaders with 22 hits, five doubles, two triples and two home runs. He also has a team-high .597 slugging percentage.
TAR HEEL TIDBITS
- Freshman Jeremy Cleveland has hit safely in seven straight games, the longest hitting streak of the season for the Tar Heels.
- Chris Maples, UNC's team leader with 20 RBIs, has hit in four of the past five games. He is 8-for-20 (.400) in that stretch, raising his batting average from .250 to .294.
- Chad Prosser is 8-for-19 (.421) over the past five games, including a 3-for-5 effort at Coastal Carolina on Tuesday. Prosser had his fourth career home run and first of the season in that 12-9 victory.
- Sean Farrell is 5-for-9 (.556) with four RBIs in the last two games. One year after walking just 20 times compared to 27 strikeouts, Farrell leads the team with 16 walks and he's struck out just 11 times.
ST. PATRICK'S DAY PROMOTION
In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, the Tar Heels will wear specially-designed green baseball hats on Saturday. Fans will have a chance to win green UNC hats of their own throughout the afternoon.
