University of North Carolina Athletics
Seventh-ranked Tar Heels Face Davidson, ECU
April 11, 2005 | Baseball
April 11, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Winners of 12 of its last 13 games, No. 7-ranked North Carolina opens a challenging week with midweek meetings with Davidson and East Carolina. The Tar Heels (27-6, 11-2 ACC) host the Wildcats (15-15) at 6 p.m. Tuesday before traveling to Greenville to face the Pirates (18-13) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
An audio broadcast of both games will be available at TarHeelBlue.com and on AM-1360 WCHL in Chapel Hill.
The Tar Heels are coming off a three-game sweep of Maryland. First baseman Chad Flack hit .583 against the Terps and tallied a team-best seven hits over the three-game series. The Forest City, N.C., native is also on a season-best eight game hitting streak and is batting .529 with four home runs and seven RBI over this stretch. On the season, Flack is batting .357 with six home runs and 17 RBI.
Catcher Justin Webb and designated hitter Matt Ellington rank as the Tar Heels top run producers. Webb is batting .321 with seven home runs and 25 RBI, while Ellington tops the squad with 31 RBI. He also has five homers and a .308 average. Carolina owns a .295 team average and a 2.02 staff earned run average.
Against Davidson, Carolina is 77-21 in 98 all-time meetings. The teams first met in 1904. The Tar Heels have defeated the Wildcats each season since 1998, including a 10-1 win in 2004.
Davidson is batting .317 as a team led by Jay Heafner, who is hitting .448 with six home runs and 41 RBI. Taylor Shoop and Gregory Zage also have six homers on the year. The Wildcats' team ERA is 6.68.
Carolina owns a 38-24 lead in the all-time series with East Carolina, which began in 1958. The Tar Heels and Pirates did not meet in 2004, but Carolina swept the season series in 2003 with an 8-4 win in Greenville on April 16 and a 7-6 victory in Chapel Hill a week later on April 23. The Tar Heels are 6-3 against ECU under Mike Fox. Carolina has won three straight in the series and last lost to the Pirates, 2-1, on April 17, 2002.
Coming off a its first conference series win over Southern Miss, East Carolina is batting .307 as a team and sports a 5.48 earned run average. At the plate, Billy Richardson leads the way with a .423 average, and Brian Cavanaugh is close behind at .422. Drew Constanzo leads the Pirates with seven homers, while Mark Minicozzi tops the team with 28 runs batted in. Richardson is second with 26 RBI.
Following these two midweek games, the Tar Heels host No. 9 Miami for a three-game series at Boshamer Stadium this weekend. Games are set for 4 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be aired on ESPN networks.
