Feb. 18, 2002
Overall Record: 1-2, 0-0 ACC
Last Week: 1-2 (0-0 vs. ranked teams)
Friday-Sunday (2/15-2/17): Seton Hall @ UNC: W, 7-5, L, 4-2, L, 4-3
NEWS AND NOTES
Ron Braun hit a three-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning of Friday's season-opener to send Carolina to a 7-5 win. It was the second home run of his UNC career.
Scott Autrey, Friday's starter, struck out a career-high seven batters, including four of the first seven batters he faced. He pitched just 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits.
Carter Harrell struck out two of the three batters he faced to get the win on Friday.
Left-hander Daniel Moore had a career-high six strikeouts in Saturday's 4-2 loss. Moore pitched 5.1 strong innings for the Tar Heels, giving up just one earned run on five hits and a walk.
Freshman Garry Bakker had a strong outing Sunday in his college debut. Bakker gave up just two hits and one run in five innings while striking out seven Seton Hall batters.
Carolina's pitching staff showed tremendous improvement over a year ago in just the first weekend of the season, striking out 34 batters and walking just 14.
Preseason All-America second baseman Russ Adams suffered a hairline fracture on his left thumb on a bunt attempt on Friday during his second at bat of the season. Adams was Carolina's DH on Saturday and was held out of the Sunday's series finale. He will be re-evaluated on Tuesday but is not expected to be out for an extended period of time.
Carolina played in front of its new state-of-the-art scoreboard and video board. See pictures of the new system as well as others from through the weekend at Boshamer Stadium by clicking here.
A beautiful weekend of 60-degree temperatures and clear skies brought big early season crowds to Boshamer Stadium. More than 1,300 fans were estimated to be in attendance over the three-game set.
QUOTABLE
UNC head coach Mike Fox: "It's not the way we wanted to start, but it's just one weekend - we have a lot more to go. I thought we pitched great for three days, and that's what I'm going to take out of this weekend. I don't want to focus on the negatives."
NEXT WEEK
Carolina travels to Savannah, Ga. for the Memorial Health Diamond Classic. Carolina opens the three-game tournament Friday at 12:30 p.m. against Georgia. The Tar Heels also face Armstrong State and Connecticut.
