University of North Carolina Athletics
Sixth-ranked Tar Heels Host Elon Wednesday
April 5, 2005 | Baseball
April 5, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A season-long 10-game winning streak for No. 6-ranked North Carolina is on the line when it hosts in-state opponent Elon (17-14) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels (24-5, 8-2 ACC) are unbeaten at home and secured a school record 22-0 home start with Sunday's win over Virginia.
The Tar Heels have won nine in a row since dropping the series finale at Clemson on March 20. They are coming off a three-game sweep of Virginia and return to conference action at Maryland this weekend. Carolina sits in second place in the league standings after an 8-2 start for the second straight season.
Freshman right-hander Andy Gale is the scheduled starter for the Tar Heels, who own an ACC-best 1.96 team earned run average. Gale is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA in 15.1 innings. He has made three midweek starts and has nine strikeouts and has allowed just eight hits.
Elon is expected to throw junior righty Lance Cole, who is 2-1 with a 6.56 ERA. He was worked 35.2 innings and has 25 strikeouts. The Phoenix are led at the plate by junior Chris Price, who is hitting .347, and senior Evan Erickson, who has five home runs and 30 RBI.
Offensively, junior outfielder Mike Daniel leads the team and stands ninth in the ACC with a .395 average. Freshman outfielder Seth Williams tops the squad with seven home runs, while senior catcher Justin Webb is batting .330 with six home runs and 22 RBI. Reigning ACC Player of the Week Chad Flack has homered in three of the last four games.
Carolina is 21-6 all-time versus Elon but the last two games have been decided by just one run. The Tar Heels won 3-2 a year ago, but the Phoenix posted a 5-4 win in 12 innings in 2003.
Following Wednesday's game, the Tar Heels travel to Maryland for a three-game series with the Terps over the weekend.
