University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 4 North Carolina Hosts Gardner-Webb Wednesday
March 1, 2005 | Baseball
March 1, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 4-ranked North Carolina (8-0) hopes to close out its season-opening home stand with a ninth consecutive victory when it hosts in-state opponent Gardner-Webb (5-5) at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Boshamer Stadium. Sophomore right-hander Robert Woodard will start for the Tar Heels, while the Bulldogs will counter with junior righty Zach Ward.
Off to their best start since 2000, the Tar Heels are coming off a three-game sweep of Birmingham Southern, while the Bulldogs dropped two of three to North Carolina A&T over the weekend. Carolina and GWU met for the first time last season with the Tar Heels posting a 5-1 win.
Woodard (0-0) will make his second start of the season for the Tar Heels. He ranks seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 1.08 earned run average and second with 14.04 strikeouts per nine innings. Woodard has fanned 13 in just 8.1 innings on the season.
Ward is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 22 strikeouts on the season. He tossed a no-hitter versus Akron on February 19 and has allowed just two hits and one unearned run in 18.1 innings.
Matt Maloney leads the Bulldog offense with a .359 average, four homers and nine RBI. Blake Lalli is hitting .371 with two homers and nine RBI, while Jay McConnell is hitting .379 with two homers and eight RBI.
Sophomore outfielder Jay Cox continues to lead the Tar Heel offense with a .414 average and seven RBI. Sophomore Matt Ellington has a team-high two home runs and eight RBI, while senior Chase Younts is batting .412 and is currently on a nine-game hitting streak.
Following Wednesday's game, Carolina travels to East Carolina's Keith LeClair Classic. The Tar Heels will face Arizona State at 5 p.m. Friday, Ohio State at 2 p.m. Saturday and Michigan at 1 p.m. Sunday.
