University of North Carolina Athletics
Baseball Closes Regular Season With Georgia Tech Series
May 11, 2001 | Baseball
May 11, 2001
Playing its first games since May 2, Carolina returns to action with its final three games of the regular-season when it hosts Georgia Tech (38-14, 12-9 ACC) this weekend in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels enter this weekend's series on a three-game winning streak, having outscored their opponents 20-6 in that run, including a 4-0 win at Clemson on April 29, the first shutout for Carolina in school history at Clemson. Carolina (29-23, 7-14 ACC) is 38-45 all-time versus Georgia Tech and lost all three games in Atlanta last year to the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech has actually taken six of the seven meetings between the two schools in the Mike Fox era, but UNC and Georgia Tech have each taken three season sets since 1995.
WEEKEND PITCHING ROTATION:
Fri. - TBA
Sat. - Scott Manshack (3-3, 7.09 ERA)
Sun. - Scott Autrey (2-3, 4.76 ERA)
CAROLINA ON A ROLL HEADING INTO EXAMS
Carolina headed into this week's break for final exams on a roll, having won three straight, including a 4-0 win over Clemson on April 29. Carolina had never before shut out the Tigers in Clemson in the century-long history of the series. Scott Autrey pitched a complete-game shutout for the Tar Heels and was named the Co-ACC Pitcher of the Week for his stellar performance in shutting down the nation's 12th-ranked team. UNC then picked up non-conference wins over Liberty (May 1) and at UNC Wilmington (May 2) to improve to 29-23 overall. Carolina, currently in eighth place in the ACC at 7-14, needs wins in two of the three games this weekend versus Georgia Tech to climb out of the eighth spot. Carolina, which has never placed in ninth place in the conference, has finished eighth just twice (1962 and 1997) since the ACC was formed in 1954.
CAROLINA SHOWS IMPROVEMENT WITH RECENT WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS
After winning just one of its first nine games against a ranked opponent (8-7 over UCLA on March 2), Carolina has won two of its past four games against a team in the national rankings. The Tar Heels got a big non-conference win when they stopped No. 19 East Carolina, 6-3, on April 17 at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina, which has won eight of its last nine meetings with the Pirates, used strong pitching performances by starter Daniel Moore (6.2 IP, 3 R, 3H) and closer Jason Howell (2.1 IP, 0 R, 2 H) to get the win. Leading 3-1, Sean Farrell's solo homer in the fifth proved to be the game-winner as ECU rallied for two runs in the seventh before eventually falling by the three-run margin. Then after dropping the first two games at Clemson -- including a 10-9, 10-inning heartbreaker on April 28 -- Carolina defeated the 12th-rated Tigers, 4-0, on April 29 to avoid a three-game sweep.
PROSSER VAULTS TO TEAM LEAD IN BATTING
Shortstop Chad Prosser, who hit a solid .302 last year as a freshman, has come into his own at the plate in 2001, leading the Tar Heels with a .354 average. While Prosser has cooled a bit over the past few weeks and was just 2-for-21 in five games from April 21-27, he appears to be back on track, batting 7-for-17 (.412) with six RBIs and five runs over the past four games. He started the month of April on a tear, batting 9-for-12 (.750) in three games against NC State (March 30-April 2) and 11-for-14 (.786) at Maryland (April 6-8). Prosser, who led the Tar Heels last year as a freshman with a .377 average in ACC games, again leads the team this year and also has an ACC-best .443 batting average in 21 league games. That includes two 5-for-5 games in one week (at NC State on April 2 and at Maryland on April 8). Prosser's five-hit game in Raleigh marked the first time a Tar Heel had tallied five hits in one game since Feb. 7, 1998. In the 16-9 win at Maryland on April 8, Prosser's five hits included three doubles, one triple and a single.
TAR HEELS LACKING FIREPOWER AT THE PLATE
As a team, Carolina has hit just 28 home runs in 2001, which ranks eighth in the ACC. Chris Maples and Ryan Blake each have seven homers to lead the Tar Heels, while Ralph Roberts and Sean Farrell have three apiece to rank in a tie for third on the team. Carolina, which had 69 homers last year and 63 in Mike Fox's first year as head coach, has not had less than 30 home runs in one season since the 1978 Tar Heels tallied 29. Meanwhile, one year after setting a school record with a .323 team batting average, the Tar Heels are hitting .300 as a team in 2001. The last time Carolina did not hit at least .300 was in 1996 (.289).
TAR HEEL TIDBITS
* Jeremy Cleveland owns the two longest hitting streaks on the team this year -- 12 games (March 27-April 13) and 11 games (March 2-21).
* Chris Maples, who entered the season with just two career home runs (both as a freshman in 1999) and 32 RBIs, has had a breakout junior season. Maples leads the Tar Heels with 39 RBIs and his seven home runs are tied for the team lead. He was 7-for-8 with two RBIs and two runs in the last two games entering this weekend's series.
* Sean Farrell has drawn 37 walks in 52 games. Last year, Farrell walked just 20 times the whole season.
* Russ Adams has hit safely in nine consecutive games, tying his career-long hitting streak which he had as a freshman.
* Jason Howell is riding a career-long six-game hitting streak, which he began on April 24 versus UNCW.
* Chad Prosser has broken out of a 2-for-21 slump over five games from April 21-27 to bat 7-for-17 over the past four UNC contests. He has driven in six runs and scored five times over that stretch.
* Sean Farrell, Adam Greenberg and Ralph Roberts all have hit safely in five of their past six games.
* Ryan Blake had eight multi-RBI games in the first 23 games of the season, but he has just one in the 25 games in which he has played since.
* Scott Manshack, who earned a win over Coastal Carolina on Feb. 13 in his collegiate debut but had gone 0-3 in his nine appearances since, has posted wins in consecutive starts. Manshack collected wins against UNC Greensboro on April 25 and had career highs of 7.0 innings pitched and eight strikeouts in beating Liberty on May 1.
UNC IS 11-4 IN ONE-RUN GAMES
Carolina is 11-4 in one-run games in 2001, compared to 8-8 in games decided by a single run last year. Of Carolina's 11 one-run wins, four have been won in the bottom of the ninth with game-ending hits, one was won on a game-ending sacrifice fly, and one was a game-winning homer in the bottom of the 11th inning.
HEELS STRUGGLING IN THE ACC
Carolina got off to an 0-7 start in ACC play for the first time in school history prior to getting two league wins at NC State on April 2. The Tar Heels were swept by Wake Forest (March 16-18), at Florida State (March 23-25) and dropped the series opener at NC State on March 30. UNC had rebounded to win five of eight ACC games, but has since dropped to 7-14 in the conference with two losses at Clemson in its most recent ACC series. UNC started 0-4 in ACC play in both 1996 and 2000, but the Tar Heels had never dropped their first seven ACC contests prior to this season. Carolina's worst ACC finish in school history was 6-18 (.250) in 1997.
YOUNG PITCHERS SHOWING IMPROVEMENT
Carolina has allowed double-digit runs in 15 games this season -- all losses. UNC's opponents have averaged 9.6 runs in Carolina's 23 losses in 2001, but only 4.9 in Carolina's 29 wins. But several of UNC's freshman pitchers have shown marked improvement in the last month of the season. In the April 11 win over Charlotte, Daniel Moore and Kevin Brower combined to allow just three hits and one run against the 49ers, marking the lowest hit total of the year by an opponent and the fewest runs since a 3-0 win over Seton Hall on Feb. 24. Against Virginia two days later, Dennis Robinson set UNC season highs with 8.0 innings and 13 strikeouts. Scott Manshack, who is scheduled to start on Saturday, has posted wins in each of his last two outings, striking out a career-best eight batters in a career-high 7.0 innings against Liberty on May 1. And in Carolina's last win, at UNCW on April 2, Moore pitched five scoreless innings out of the bullpen to get the victory, upping his record to 5-4.
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 52 games. UNC has used an average of 3.8 different pitchers per game, while last year the Tar Heels averaged 3.0 pitchers per game over its 63-game schedule.
BENSON, HOWELL SOLIDIFY BULLPEN
Among the major holes that needed to be filled with the departure of last year's senior class was that of the closer. Afterall, All-America closer Derrick DePriest, whose 124 career appearances and 26 saves rank second all-time at UNC, had been UNC's ace out of the bullpen since 1998. Jason Howell and Whitley Benson have filled in admirably in the 2001 season, combining for a 9-4 record and seven saves in 84.0 innings. Howell picked up his fourth save in the April 17 win over East Carolina and followed that up with his sixth win in the 10-7 victory over Duke on April 20. Meanwhile, Benson earned his third save of the year on April 25 against UNC Greensboro. Benson entered that game with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh but held the Spartans scoreless in the seventh, he struck out the side in the eighth and allowed one run before wrapping up the win in the ninth.
ROBERTS SHINES IN STARTING ROLE
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, is batting .290 with 31 RBIs and three home runs. But his biggest impact is being felt on the mound. After three solid relief outings, Roberts moved into the starting rotation on March 29 and has provided some of the consistency that that Tar Heel staff has lacked throughout the season. Roberts, 2-1 with a team-best 3.30 ERA, was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week on April 9 after notching conference wins over NC State and Maryland in the week. The junior righty struck out five in 6.2 innings against the Wolfpack in the second game of a April 2 doubleheader, as the Tar Heels won their first series at NCSU since 1993. On April 8 against Maryland, Roberts gave up three runs on just four hits over 7.0 innings for his second win of the year. He also was 2-for-4 (including a three-run homer) and drove in four runs in the series-ending game against the Terps. He has allowed just two earned runs on six hits over 9.1 innings in his last two outings since losing on April 21 to Duke.
RUSS ADAMS COMES UP BIG IN THE CLUTCH
Russ Adams has become one of Carolina's biggest threats at the plate as a sophomore. Adams, who ranks third on the team with a .336 batting average, leads the Tar Heels with 74 hits and 49 runs scored. Adams ranks second on the team with 26 steals and 38 RBIs, and he's ended three games with game-winning hits -- JMU, Minnesota and UCLA.
LONE SENIOR MAKING BIG IMPACT 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 made an immediate impact for the Tar Heels. Howell has seen time as the DH, at first base, on the mound and, on a very limited basis, in the outfield. Howell's among the ACC's best with six wins (6-2 overall) in 41.2 innings, and he leads UNC with a 3.67 ERA. He also leads UNC with four saves and ranks second on the team with a .338 batting average.
ROBINSON FANS 13 IN WIN OVER VIRGINIA
Freshman right-hander Dennis Robinson had his finest outing of the year in a 10-6 win over Virginia on April 13, a game in which he struck out a career-high 13 batters in eight complete innings. At the time, his eight innings pitched marked the longest outing by a Tar Heel this year, and his 13 K's remain the most by a Carolina pitcher this season. In fact, his 13 strikeouts were the most by a freshman pitcher since Mike Bynum fanned 14 batters in seven innings at Maryland on March 16, 1997. Robinson struck out seven in 7.2 innings out out of the bullpen for the win at NC State on April 2 (Game 1), UNC's first ACC victory. Robinson has struggled in his last two starts though, giving up six runs on five hits in 0.2 innings to Duke on April 20 and three runs on three hits in the first inning to UNC Wilmington on Tuesday.
