University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 10 Carolina Hosts Rival Duke
April 21, 2005 | Baseball
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April 21, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Tenth-ranked North Carolina (30-8-1, 11-4-1 ACC) hopes to return to its winning ways in the Atlantic Coast Conference this weekend when it hosts rival Duke (12-27, 3-15 ACC) for a three-game set at Boshamer Stadium. Game times are 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The winner of the series will claim a point towards the Carlyle Cup, the all-sports competition between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils. An audio broadcast of all three games can be heard in Chapel Hill on AM-1360 WCHL and on TarHeelBlue.com. Jones Angell and Adam Lucas will have the call for the Tar Heel Sports Network.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Duke (12-27, 3-15 ACC) at North Carolina (30-8-1, 11-4-1 ACC)
Fri., April 22, 7 p.m.
Sat., April 23, 2 p.m.
Sun., April 24, 1:30 p.m.
All-Time Series: Carolina leads, 159-90-2
Last Series: Carolina won two of three in Durham in 2004.
Quick Hit: The Tar Heels are 9-1 in their last 10 games with the Blue Devils.
CAROLINA-DUKE SERIES HISTORY
Carolina and Duke have met 251 times on the diamond with the Tar Heels holding a 159-90-2 advantage. UNC head coach Mike Fox is 17-3 against the Blue Devils and has led the Tar Heels to 9-1 mark in the series over the last three seasons. A year ago, Carolina won two of three in Durham and then posted a 20-2 win to eliminate Duke at the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils' last series win came in 2001 at Boshamer Stadium.
CARLYLE CUP
The winner of the series will gain one point towards the Carlyle Cup, the all-sports competition between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils. Carolina currently holds a 12.5-9.5 lead. There are three points up in the air after this weekend's baseball action - men's and women's outdoor track and women's rowing.
A LOOK AT THE TAR HEELS
The Tar Heels rank third nationally with a 2.67 earned run average. Junior reliever Jonathan Hovis leads the staff with a 1.82 mark in 39.2 innings. Sophomore left-hander Andrew Miller (7-1, 2.11 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday, with classmate Daniel Bard (6-2, 3.88 ERA) set for Sunday after throwing four innings at ECU Tuesday. Saturday's starter has yet to be determined. At the plate, the Tar Heels are led by junior Mike Daniel, who has a team-best .381 average. Four different players have at least eight home runs, led by freshman Seth Williams with 10. Redshirt sophomore Matt Ellington leads the squad with a career-best 40 runs batted in.
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
Duke enters the weekend with a 12-27 overall record and a 3-15 mark in ACC action. The Blue Devils have yet to win a game on the road this season. Freshman Brett Bartles leads the team with a .350 average and 29 RBI. Adam Murray is second on the team with a .342 mark. Duke is batting .275 as a team and has hit just 14 home runs. On the mound, the Blue Devils sport a 6.47 earned run average and opponents are batting .311. Senior right-hander Greg Burke has five of Duke's 12 wins and leads all starters with a 4.92 ERA. He is scheduled to start Friday. Sophomore lefty David Torcise (2-4, 6.14 ERA) is slated to start Saturday, with sophomore right-hander Danny Otero (4-9, 5.64 ERA) scheduled to take the hill Sunday.
A LOOK AT THE TAR HEEL STARTERS
FRIDAY: Andrew Miller (So., LHP): Sophomore left-hander Andrew Miller hopes the rebound from the shortest start of his career against Duke Friday. Last week against Miami, he went just 2.1 innings and allowed nine runs (seven earned) on three hits and eight walks. Miller suffered his first loss of the season to fall to 7-1 in 2005 and 13-4 on his career. He owns a 2.11 ERA this season and is limiting opponents to just a .200 batting average. Miller has a team-high 69 strikeouts against 36 walks and has surrendered just one home runs on the year. Miller ranks among the ACC leaders in wins (2nd), strikeouts (2nd), ERA (4th) and opponent batting average (4th). He is 2-0 in his career against Duke. He gave up just three hits over seven shutout innings in the Sunday game in Durham a year ago and then fired the lone complete game of his career against the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament, allowing just two runs and striking out seven. He will face Duke senior righty Greg Burke Friday.
SATURDAY: To Be Announced: North Carolina's starter for Saturday has not been named. Duke will start sophomore left-hander David Torcise.
SUNDAY: Daniel Bard (So., RHP): After tossing four innings at ECU Tuesday, sophomore right-hander Daniel Bard will make his first Sunday start this season against Duke. He has struggled a bit in his last two outings, giving up six runs in 1.2 innings versus Miami last weekend and five runs in four innings in Greenville Tuesday. But Bard was very sharp over his final two innings against the Pirates and retired seven of the last eight batters he faced. On the year, Bard is 6-2 with a 3.88 ERA over 55.2 innings. He has 46 strikeouts against 24 walks and is holding opponents to a .222 average. Bard has allowed a team-high seven home runs but has given up just 45 total hits on the year. He is fourth in the ACC in wins and eighth in opponent batting average. Bard is 1-0 lifetime against Duke and went seven innings and allowed three runs on eight hits, while striking out six in Durham last season. He will face Duke righty Danny Otero Sunday.
LAST TIME OUT: NORTH CAROLINA 3, VCU 2
Sophomore Jay Cox hit a go-ahead double in the seventh, and relievers Jonathan Hovis and Matt Danford held the lead as No. 10 North Carolina posted a 3-2 win over Virginia Commonwealth Wednesday at Boshamer Stadium. Cox's pinch-hit double capped a two-out rally in the seventh for the Tar Heels that broke a 2-2 tie. Center fielder Chase Younts roped a double to left center, and second baseman Greg Mangum was walked before Cox came through to give Carolina its second lead of the night. The Tar Heels held a 2-1 lead until the Rams tied it in the fifth. Hovis (4-1) allowed just one hit over two scoreless innings to pick up the win. He struck out three before Danford came on to work the ninth for his seventh save of the season. UNC starter Andy Gale went six-plus innings and allowed just two runs on eight hits and one walk. He struck out seven and now has 17 strikeouts against just one walk in his last 15 innings of work. Gale fired a complete game shutout of Davidson in his last start.
HEELS DIG THE LONG BALL
Despite going homerless Wednesday, Carolina has hit 11 home runs over the last five games, including four in the 18-6 win at East Carolina Tuesday. The Tar Heels currently have 47 home runs on the season, which ranks second in the ACC to Georgia Tech's 50. Freshman Seth Williams has 10 round-trippers, while senior Justin Webb has nine this season after hitting a total of two in his previous three seasons. Freshman Chad Flack and redshirt sophomore Matt Ellington each have eight home runs on the season. Williams (3rd), Webb (5th), Ellington (7th) and Flack (7th) each rank among the ACC's top 10 in homers this season. Carolina is the only team with four players ranked among the league leaders.
CAROLINA CAN WIN WITH MANY STYLES OF PLAY
To borrow a basketball analogy used by head coach Mike Fox, the Tar Heels showed they can win a fast-paced game in the 90s or take care of business in a slow-down, Princeton-type game in the 50s this week. Carolina put up season-highs of 18 runs and 23 hits in Tuesday's win over East Carolina and then used a formula of pitching and defense in Wednesday's 3-2 win over VCU. Carolina had just seven hits in the game but did not commit an error and allowed just the two runs.
HEELS OFF TO BEST START SINCE 1999
With a record of 30-8-1, Carolina is off to its best start since the 1999 season, which was the Tar Heels' first under head coach Mike Fox. UNC opened 31-8 that year, finished 41-18 and lost two of three at the NCAA Palo Alto Regional. The Tar Heels have had similar starts in each of the last two seasons, opening 29-10 in 2004 and 28-11 in 2003.
CAROLINA COMPETES WITH NATION'S BEST
Off to a 30-8-1 start, Carolina appears to be in good shape to secure a fourth straight trip to the postseason. The Tar Heels are currently ranked 16th in the Boyd's World Pseudo-RPI (BoydsWorld.com) and own a 16-7-1 record against teams rated among the nation's top 100. With Tuesday's win at East Carolina, UNC improved to 2-3-1 against teams in the top 20 of the Pseudo-RPI.
TAR HEELS AMONG NATION'S BEST IN ERA
The Carolina pitching staff has been nothing short of brilliant this season and ranked third nationally with a team ERA of 2.62 through games of April 17. Carolina finished 14th in ERA a year ago at 3.62. Prior to the Miami series, the Tar Heels had a remarkable ERA of 1.96 after 34 games.
NCAA Division I Team ERA Leaders (through games of April 17) 1. Long Beach State 1.94 2. Nebraska 2.41 3. North Carolina 2.62 4. Texas 2.63 5. Missouri 2.63
DANFORD NAMED TO MIDSEASON STOPPER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
Carolina closer Matt Danford was one of 35 relief pitchers named to the midseason watch list for the inaugural National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, which will be given annually to the top relief pitcher in Division I. After missing all of 2004, Danford has been brilliant in the closer role for the Tar Heels this season, posting a 3-1 record and seven saves, which ranks fourth in the ACC. Danford also has a microscopic 1.14 ERA, having allowed just four earned runs 31.2 innings. In ACC play, he ranks second with a 1.62 ERA and leads the league with a .186 opponent batting average. With none of Carolina's starters making it out of the fourth inning in the Miami series, Danford was called upon to work a season-long 6.1 innings in relief in last Sunday's tie. He scattered six hits and allowed two earned runs and struck out four and walked one. The outing was the longest for Danford since he went 7.2 innings in a start against Michigan State as a freshman on February 28, 2003. Danford, who missed all of last season following surgery on his right shoulder, struck out the side in the ninth versus Appalachian State February 16 in his first appearance since the 2003 Columbia Super Regional. He has never looked back, and the Tar Heels are 15-2-1 in games in which Danford has pitched.
WILLIAMS NEEDS ONE MORE FOR ROOKIE HOMER MARK
Freshman outfielder Seth Williams leads the team and tops all ACC rookies with 10 home runs. His 10 homers are the most by a Tar Heel freshman since Day Moylan also hit 10 in 1998. Williams needs just one more to tie the school mark for home runs by a freshman, which is 11 by Drex Roberts in 1981. Williams' 10 homers have come in just 93 at-bats or one every 9.3 trips to the plate. He is currently on a season-best six-game hitting streak and is batting .312 with 24 RBI. He is currently third in the ACC in homers and would rank second in slugging percentage if he had enough at-bats to qualify.
CAREER DAY FOR HORTON
Freshman shortstop Josh Horton had a career day in the Tar Heels' 18-6 win at East Carolina Tuesday. He went 4-for-6 with six RBI and two runs scored. In Carolina's 11-run sixth inning, Horton drove in the first run with an triple and in his second time up he cleared the bases with a double. He later added RBI singles in the seventh and ninth innings. On the year, Horton is batting .336 with two homers and 22 RBI. He is third on the team with five steals and was named to Baseball America's Midseason Freshman All-America Team.
BIG WEEK FOR ELLINGTON
Redshirt sophomore Matt Ellington led the Tar Heels last week with a .529 average, two home runs and six RBI. He was 9-for-17 at the plate and also scored six runs over the week. In the three-game set with Miami, Ellington hit a team-best .538 (7-13) with the two homers, a double, six RBI and five runs scored. He slugged 1.077 in the series, went 3-for-5 in the last two games and homered in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Ellington drove in two runs in every game of the series and scored at least one run in all for games on the week. He has picked up where he left off and is already 5-for-10 this week and homered and drove in three runs Tuesday at East Carolina. Ellington has four straight multi-hit games and is hitting .519 over his current six-game hitting streak. He leads the team with 40 RBI and is batting .347 on the season. His eight home runs are tied for seventh in the ACC.
FLACK ATTACK
Freshman first baseman Chad Flack has been on a tear in April and is batting .455 for the month. He has hit safely in 12 of the last 14 games and has multi-hit games in nine of the last 11. Flack is batting .361 on the season with eight homers and 27 RBI. He went 3-for-5 with a home run and a career-best three runs scored in the win at East Carolina Tuesday. Flack is tied for seventh in the ACC with eight homers and is seventh with a .615 slugging percentage.
AGAINST IN-STATE RIVALS
After this weekend Carolina will have played 12 games against its in-state opponents, and the Tar Heels own an 8-1 mark through the first nine games. Their only defeat was an April 6 loss to Elon. Carolina has defeated Wake Forest three times and owns wins over Appalachian State, UNC Wilmington, Gardner-Webb, Davidson and East Carolina. The Tar Heels have games left with NC State, East Carolina and UNC Wilmington.
TAR HEELS HEADED FOR TOP PITCHING SEASON
Despite its lack of success on the mound against Miami, Carolina appears headed for one of the top pitching seasons in program history. The Tar Heels, who have an ACC-best 2.67 ERA, have not had a team ERA below 3.00 since a 2.89 mark in 1983. Carolina's lowest team mark since 1970 is a 2.23 ERA in 1972, the first year the Tar Heels played in Boshamer Stadium. This year, Carolina has allowed 106 earned runs in 357.2 innings and is holding opponents to a .221 batting average. Carolina recorded its sixth shutout of the season against Davidson on April 12. Detailed pitching stats are only available since the early 1950s, and the top Tar Heel ERA since that time was a 1.66 staff mark in 1967. Garry Hill went 8-0 and led the team with a school-record 0.70 mark in 89 innings. Reliever Jonathan Hovis tops this year's squad with a 1.91 ERA.
COOK, STEED COME THROUGH IN A PINCH
Senior Ross Cook and sophomore Bryan Steed are two of the first bats off the bench when head coach Mike Fox needs a key pinch hit. Cook leads the team with five pinch hits in 14 at-bats for a .357 average, while Steed is 4-for-12. No other Tar Heel has more than two pinch hits. Steed also excels at moving runners over, as he has come through in nine of 18 chances to advance runners.
BEST-EVER START AT THE BOSH
Carolina's sweep of Virginia on April 1-3 gave the Tar Heels a school-record home start at Boshamer Stadium. After Wednesday's win over VCU, UNC is now 24-3-1 at home. Elon handed the Tar Heels their first loss at home on April 6. This year's team surpassed a 21-0 start by the 1990 squad, which won a school-record 51 games. Carolina has nine games remaining at home this season and needs to win seven to set a new record for home victories in a season. The current mark of 30 was established in 2000.
BEST STARTS AT BOSHAMER STADIUM YEAR START FINISH 2005 22-0 ??? 1990 21-0 29-3 1987 17-0 22-8 2000 15-0 30-5
WEBB ON FIRE IN CONFERENCE ACTION
Senior Justin Webb has been outstanding in ACC action this season owning a .328 batting average, six home runs and 21 RBI in just 16 games. Webb has had monster games of seven RBI versus Virginia Tech and five against Virginia. In conference games, he ranks second in home runs and eighth in RBI. He has set a career high twice this season with four hits in ACC play. On the season, Webb is hitting .313 with nine home runs and 28 RBI.
CAROLINA ON A ROLL IN ACC PLAY
Despite the series loss to Miami, Carolina is 11-4-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play and currently sits in fourth place. Prior to the meeting with the Hurricanes, the Tar Heels had swept three consecutive ACC series for the first time since the league went to three-game weekend series in 1990. The nine-game conference win streak was the longest for Carolina since it won nine straight over the 2001 and `02 seasons. The Tar Heels last won more than nine straight in ACC play when they won 12 in a row over the 1983 and `84 seasons. The Tar Heels' longest winning streak in conference play is 22 straight from 1963-65. Carolina has swept Duke eight times since 1990.
