University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Baseball Notebook: March 17
March 17, 2003 | Baseball
March 17, 2003
Overall Record:13-5, 0-0 (Atlantic Coast Conference)
Last Week: 6-0 (0-0 vs. ranked teams)
Monday (3/10): Ball State vs. UNC: W, 12-0
Tuesday (3/11): Ball State. vs. UNC: W, 9-5
Wednesday (3/12): Liberty vs. UNC: W, 10-4
Friday (3/14): Monmouth vs. UNC: W, 9-2
Saturday (3/15): Monmouth vs. UNC: W, 5-4 (gm.1)
Saturday (3/15): Monmouth vs. UNC: W, 14-5 (gm.2)
NEWS AND NOTES
Through the first 18 games of the 2003 season, the Tar Heels have compiled a 13-5 record. At this point last year, UNC was just 10-8 but finished the season with an impressive 43-21 mark, and went 17-7 in the ACC. The Tar Heels will begin ACC conference play with a three game set this weekend versus 13th ranked Wake Forest at Boshamer Stadium. The Demon Deacons took two out of three from Carolina last year in Winston-Salem and Tar Heels head coach Mike Fox is just 3-12 in his career against Wake Forest.
Carolina lost an important part of their offense when Sammy Hewitt injured his shoulder in Friday's victory over Monmouth. Hewitt will be out of the lineup for an undisclosed amount of time, and his bat will be missed. Hewitt is batting .400 on the season and is tied for the team lead in home runs (4) and RBIs (16).
Carolina second baseman Greg Mangum made the first error of his career in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against Monmouth. Mangum's error came in the first inning and ended the remarkable streak in which he went 164 defensive chances without an error. Mangum played in 54 games as a freshman last year and was flawless in the field through 131 chances. He had 33 chances this season before bobbling a ground ball and making an errant throw to first base.
Relief pitcher Whitley Benson recorded Carolina's first save of the season in Saturday's 5-4 victory over Monmouth in Game 1. The Tar Heels had 13 saves as a team last season and Benson was second on the team with three. Senior All-American Chris Maples led UNC with five saves in 2002.
Carolina's freshman pitchers have done an outstanding job so far this season. Zack Zuercher, Jonathan Hovis, Adam Kalkhof and Matt Danford have combined for a 5-1 record. They have pitched 56 innings and given up just 19 earned runs while walking only 12 batters and striking out 60.
TOP PERFORMERS
Senior Ryan Blake hit safely in all six games last week. Blake batted .583 (14-24) on the week including three doubles, one home run, seven RBIs and nine runs scored. He had a slugging percentage of .833 and on-base percentage of .655 in Carolina's six wins. Blake now has a six-game hitting streak and improved his average to .354 on the season, which is third on the team.
Freshman pitcher Adam Kalkhof started two games last week, gave up just one earned run and posted an impressive 0.75 ERA while going 1-0. On the week, he pitched 12.0 innings, giving up just 11 hits and one walk while striking out 16. Kalkhof picked up the win in Monday's 12-0 shutout victory over Ball State by pitching seven scoreless innings in which he scattered just three hits and one walk while striking out ten batters. Kalkhof now leads the Tar Heels in wins (3) and strikeouts (29) and is tied for the team lead in innings pitched (21.2).
THIS WEEK (PROBABLE STARTERs)
Tuesday (3/18): Princeton. vs. UNC- 3 p.m. (Scott Manshack: 2-2, 5.06 ERA)
Wednesday (3/19): Princeton vs. UNC- 3 p.m. (Bryan Phillips: 0-0, 3.00 ERA)
Friday (3/21): Wake Forest vs. UNC- 3 p.m. (Garry Bakker: 2-0, 3.54 ERA)
Saturday (3/22): Wake Forest vs. UNC- 1 p.m. (Daniel Moore: 2-0, 4.15 ERA)
Sunday (3/23): Wake Forest vs. UNC- 1:30 p.m. (Adam Kalkhof: 3-0, 3.74 ERA)
