UNC Baseball Notebook: March 25, 2002

March 25, 2002

Overall Record:15-8, 6-0 ACC
Last Week: 5-0 (3-0 vs. ranked teams)

Tuesday (3/19): Princeton vs. UNC: W, 15-2
Wednesday (3/20): Princeton vs. UNC: W, 16-2
Friday (3/22): No. 1Florida State vs. UNC: W, 11-7
Saturday (3/23): No. 1 Florida State vs. UNC: W, 7-1
Sunday (3/24): No. 1 Florida State vs. UNC: W, 9-1

KEY PERFORMER:

Chris Maples

Chris Maples was named the ACC's Player of the Week after sparking Carolina's first sweep of Florida State in school history, as the Tar Heels beat the top-ranked Seminoles 11-7, 7-1 and 9-1 last weekend in Chapel Hill. Maples batted 6-for-11 (.545) with three home runs and 11 RBIs in the series. He was 9-for-18 (.500) with four doubles, eight runs scored, four home runs and 14 RBIs for the entire week to help extend UNC's winning streak to a nine games, its longest since winning 21 straight in 2000. He also pitched two scoreless innings of relief on the week.

In Friday's 11-7 victory over FSU, Maples helped the Tar Heels come from five runs behind for the win. Maples led off the seventh inning with a solo home run and then finished the Tar Heels' nine-run seventh inning with a grand slam. He added a two-run double and a two-run home run to lead Carolina to a 7-1 win on Saturday and helped ensure the series sweep with an RBI double in the eighth inning of Sunday's 9-1 win.

Maples is batting .303 with a team-leading nine home runs and 27 RBIs. He has hit in 15 of the last 16 games, including seven straight.

OTHER TOP PERFORMERS:
Chris Iannetta hit .450 (9-for-20) with three home runs and seven RBIs on the week. Iannetta now has a seven-game hitting streak.

Russ Adams batted .350 (7-for-20) on the week, scoring nine runs as well as hitting two home runs and having six RBIs. Adams also went 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts, raising his ACC leading total to 25 steals. In Wednesday's 16-2 victory over Princeton, Adams went 3-for-5 with two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored. Adams hit home runs in consecutive at bats, doubling his career total of 1 home run.

Mell Adams went 9-for-21 on the week (.429) with his first two home runs as a Tar Heel and six RBIs. With his success this week, Adams has raised his batting average to .366.

On the week, Michael Gross pitched four innings out of the bullpen, giving up just one run on one hit while striking out five. Gross pitched three scoreless, hitless innings of relief in the Florida State series and collected his first career save in Friday's comeback victory over the Seminoles.

Daniel Moore picked up his third victory of the season on Sunday by giving up just five hits and no earned runs in seven innings while striking out four Florida State batters. Moore is now tied with Carter Harrell for the team lead in wins.

Freshman Garry Bakker pitched a career-high seven innings in earning his second victory of the season over Florida State on Saturday. Bakker gave up just three hits and one run while striking out three and lowering his ERA to 2.97, the best among UNC starting pitchers.

NEWS AND NOTES

Carolina is ranked No. 24 in Baseball America's latest poll after posting a 5-0 record last week, including the three-game sweep of Florida State. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 19 in Baseball America's preseason poll, but fell from the rankings after dropping two of three to Seton Hall to open the season. Collegiate Baseball's latest poll has UNC at No. 20.

Center fielder Adam Greenberg was a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts last week, raising his season total to 16. Greenberg has only been caught stealing once this season, a percentage of .941. Greenberg's 12-game hitting streak was snapped in an 0-for-3 performance Friday against Florida State.

The Tar Heels completed their first ever sweep of the Florida State Seminoles. Last weekend marks only the fourth time that the Seminoles have been swept since they began ACC play in 1992. The previous three series sweeps came at the hands of the Clemson Tigers.

By sweeping Maryland and Florida State, UNC has started the ACC regular season 6-0 for the first time since 1990 when they won 51 games and were ACC champions.

Carolina's pitchers combined to throw 14 consecutive scoreless innings from the second inning of Saturday's game until the seventh inning of Sunday's game against FSU. The Tar Heels also allowed just two runs in the final 21 innings of the series and held the Seminole hitters to a .200 batting average all weekend (18-90). Overall, Carolina's pitchers combined to go 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA last week.

In the five games last week, the Tar Heels hit 17 home runs compared to just one for their opponents. They also outscored Princeton and Florida State 58-13.

QUOTABLE:

Here's what some of the Tar Heels had to say about Carolina's three-game sweep of No. 1 Florida State last weekend in Chapel Hill:

Chris Maples: "We had a lot of confidence going into these games and we had no doubt that we could play with anyone in the country."

Daniel Moore: "We've been pitching, playing defense and hitting the ball. Any time you can get all three of those over any stretch of time you're going to have a successful ball club.

"We struggled a little early in the season, but we kept our heads up and knew it would come around. Nobody expected us to do this, but we were confident we had the ability to do it. We're really happy with this weekend, and we just have to keep our focus on the next game."

Head Coach Mike Fox: "I think we've all been looking for a sign that we're moving in the right direction and that all our hard work is coming to fruition. You need some sort of validation that you've got the right kids, you've got the right philosophy. I've felt that all along, but it's still nice to have it validated by (showing) we can compete and we can win in the league and we can win an ACC championship. But until you go out there and have weekends like this, I'm not sure they really believe it totally without reservation. Now they should."

NEXT WEEK (PROBABLE STARTER):
Tuesday (3/26) vs. Towson at 3 p.m. (Carter Harrell)
Wednesday (3/27) vs. Towson at 3 p.m. (Scott Manshack)
Friday (3/29) at Virginia at 7 p.m. (Scott Autrey)
Saturday (3/30) at Virginia at 7 p.m. (Garry Bakker)
Sunday (3/31) at Virginia at 1 p.m. (Daniel Moore)

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Carter Harrell

Chris Maples

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