University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Open ACC Tourney With Florida State
May 23, 2005 | Baseball
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May 23, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After taking two of three from league leader Georgia Tech in its final series of the regular season, North Carolina turns its attention to the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship, which opens Tuesday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The fifth-seeded Tar Heels (40-15-1, 17-10-1 ACC) open the annual event at 4 p.m. Wednesday against No. 4 seed Florida State (48-16, 19-11 ACC). The winner moves on to play at 7 p.m. Thursday, while the loser will play an elimination game at 1 p.m. Thursday. An audio broadcast of all postseason games will be available on AM-1360 WCHL in Chapel Hill and at TarHeelBlue.com. Jones Angell and Adam Lucas will have the call for the Tar Heel Sports Network.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Since the inaugural ACC Championship in 1973, the Tar Heels own a 60-52 (53.6) record in tourney play. Carolina has won four titles (1982-83, 1990) and has appeared in eight title games, but none since 1990. The Tar Heels' three victories at last year's event were the program's most since its last league title in `90. Head coach Mike Fox is 7-12 in six trips to the conference tournament. Last year in Salem, Va., UNC lost to Clemson in the opening round (7-6), but rebounded with wins over Maryland (14-0), Duke (20-2) and the Tigers (6-5). The Tar Heels were then eliminated by eventual champion Florida State, 8-7, in 11 innings in the semifinal round. Carolina has lost to the eventual tournament winner in three of the last four years.
FIRST ROUND MATCH-UP: CAROLINA VS. FLORIDA STATE
Wednesday's first round meeting will mark the third straight year that the Tar Heels and Seminoles have played in the ACC Tournament. The teams have split the last two meetings, as FSU posted an 8-7 win in 11 innings a year ago to eliminate the Tar Heels in the semifinal round. Carolina's only win over the Seminoles in ACC tourney play was a 3-2, 10-inning victory in 2003. Florida State holds a 51-20 lead in the all-time series, including a 5-1 advantage in ACC Championship play. Earlier this season, Carolina was swept by FSU in Tallahassee in a series that wrapped up May 15. The Tar Heels have rebounded since that series, winning three of their last four against East Carolina and Georgia Tech. UNC head coach Mike Fox is 8-16 versus the Seminoles in his seven seasons at his alma mater and is 1-2 against FSU in the ACC Tournament.
A LOOK AT THE TAR HEELS
Fresh off its first series win over Georgia Tech since 2001, Carolina has won three of its last four games heading into the postseason. Led by freshman shortstop Josh Horton (.376), the Tar Heels are batting an even .300. UNC has slugged 61 home runs in 56 games, led by the freshman duo of Chad Flack, who has 14 homers, and Seth Williams, who has 13. Designated hitter Matt Ellington has driven in a team-high 54 runs. On the mound, sophomore righty Robert Woodard leads the staff with a 2.38 ERA and is unbeaten at 7-0. Relievers Matt Danford (4-1, 9 saves, 1.48) and Jonathan Hovis (5-4, 5 saves, 2.73) anchor the bullpen. The Tar Heels sport a staff ERA of 3.24.
A LOOK AT THE TAR HEEL STARTERS
Robert Woodard (So., RHP): The Tar Heels' most consistent pitcher for much of the season, sophomore right-hander Robert Woodard (7-0) moved to the front of the rotation for the Georgia Tech series and held the league's top offense to just one run over 6.2 innings. He allowed a career-high eight hits but walked just one and struck out five en route to his fifth win over his last seven appearances. Over his last six appearances, he is 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA over 32.2 innings. Woodard, who has allowed more than two earned runs just twice this season, sports a 2.38 ERA on the season and is holding opponents to a .224 batting average. Over a career-high 83.1 innings this season, he has 68 strikeouts against just 15 walks (4.53-to-1 ratio). He is among the ACC leaders in wins, ERA and opponent batting average. Woodard has a 15-2 career record for a .882 career winning percentage, which ranks second all-time at Carolina behind All-America Scott Bankhead.
Andrew Miller (So., LHP): Sophomore left-hander Andrew Miller owns an 8-2 record and a 2.79 ERA but has struggled over his last five starts to the tune of a 6.94 ERA. Miller has suffered losses to Miami and Florida State over this stretch and has allowed 18 earned runs on 30 hits and 20 walks over the last 23.1 innings. Last time out, he worked just 2.2 innings against Georgia Tech, as the game was halted due to rain. On the season, he has a career-best 90 strikeouts and 48 walks over 80.2 innings. Miller is holding batters to a .237 average. He ranks among the ACC leaders in wins, ERA, strikeouts per nine innings, innings per start and opponent batting average. Miller has one career ACC Tournament start and tossed the only complete game of his career against Duke last season.
Daniel Bard (So., RHP): Sophomore righty Daniel Bard brings a 7-3 record and a 4.16 ERA into the 2005 ACC Championship. He also has career-high 72 strikeouts and has issued 39 walks in 84.1 innings. Bard is holding opposing batters to just a .223 average. Over his last seven starts, he owns a 6.29 ERA and has allowed 24 earned runs on 36 hits and 19 walks over 34.1 innings. Last time out, he went seven innings against Georgia Tech and tied a career high by allowing six earned runs. He did strikeout seven and walked just three. Bard is among the ACC leaders in wins, shutouts, complete games and innings per start. He has one career start in the ACC Tournament and allowed six runs on eight hits against Clemson last season.
TAR HEELS IN TOURNAMENT ACTION
Carolina's veterans have enjoyed great success in the conference tournament over the past few years, led by senior second baseman Greg Mangum, who is batting .326 (15-46) in 12 games over the last three seasons. He has also scored nine runs and tallied 10 RBI. Classmate Chase Younts owns a .400 average (8-20) over the last two tournaments, including a .389 mark a year ago with seven runs scored and two RBI. He tallied a career-best five hits in last year's 14-0 win over Maryland. Infielder Bryan Steed also had a big tournament a year ago with six RBI, three doubles and a .353 average, while outfielder Mike Daniel also tallied three doubles and drove in five runs in the 2004 event. Catcher Justin Webb hit .381 last season and scored seven runs. On the mound, Andrew Miller tossed his lone complete game and allowed just two runs over nine innings against Duke last season.
HEELS REACH 40 IN REGULAR SEASON
With two wins over No. 6 Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels reached the 40-win plateau in the regular season for the first time since 2000. Carolina has won at least 40 in each of the last four years six times in seven seasons under head coach Mike Fox. The Tar Heels have 12 40-win seasons since 1980, and the school record for wins is 51 set in 1990. The most victories for UNC under Fox is 46 in 2000.
CAROLINA WRAPS UP SCHOOL-RECORD SEASON AT HOME
Carolina completed its regular season with a school-record 32 home victories, which ranked as the most home wins in the nation through games of May 21. Virginia and Texas had both won 31 games. The Tar Heels went 32-5-1 at Boshamer Stadium surpassing the previous mark of 30 set in 1993 and 2000. UNC's .855 winning percentage was sixth-best home total in program history, and the 38 home games played ranks third all-time.
TAR HEELS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS IN ONE-RUN GAMES
The Tar Heels have played in 19 one-run games this season, which ranks among the most in the nation. Carolina owns a 12-7 record in these tight contests. After dropping two one-run games to both NC State and Florida State down the stretch run of the season, the Tar Heels rebounded on the final weekend of the regular season with two one-run wins over Georgia Tech.
SCORING EQUALS SUCCESS FOR CAROLINA
With one of the league's top pitching staffs, the Tar Heels usually find themselves in the win column when they are able to put some runs on the board. Carolina is 26-4-1 when scoring at least six runs and is unbeaten in the 14 games it has scored 10 or more runs. All four of the Tar Heels' losses when scoring at least six have come in ACC play - two to Miami, one to NC State and one to Florida State. By comparison, UNC is just 14-11 when scoring five runs or less. Conversely, strong performances by the pitching staff have also spelled success for UNC, as it is 34-3 when allowing less than five runs. All three losses when allowing less than five came in one-run defeats at the Keith LeClair Classic in early March.
WOODARD GRABS STARTING SPOT
After working in a variety of roles for much of his career, sophomore right-hander Robert Woodard has nailed down a spot as one of the Tar Heels top starters. The Charlotte native is pitching well down the stretch as evidenced by his 1.59 ERA over his last four appearances and a 2.00 mark and 5-0 record over his last seven appearances. Perhaps his most impressive performance over this stretch came in relief at NC State when he allowed just two hits over 6.2 innings in the Tar Heels' 12-inning win on April 30. In his last appearance, Woodard went 6.2 innings against Georgia Tech and held the league's top offense to just one run. On the season, he is 7-0 with a team-best 2.38 ERA with 68 strikeouts in 83.1 innings.
HORTON BEST ROOKIE AT THE PLATE SINCE 2000
Freshman shortstop Josh Horton is batting a team-best .376, which is the best average by a UNC rookie since Adam Greenberg hit .386 in 2000. Current Baltimore Oriole Brian Roberts hit a school-record .427 as a freshman in 1997. Horton has been particularly outstanding over the last 15 games, batting .458 (27-59) with 11 RBI and 11 runs scored over this stretch. After struggling defensively earlier in the season, Horton has committed just five of his 19 errors over the last 20 games.
HEELS SPORT BALANCED OFFENSE
A year ago, Carolina relied heavily on All-Americas Marshall Hubbard and Chris Iannetta to produce most of the offense. Hubbard drove in a school-record 83 runs, while Iannetta added 71. This time around,the Tar Heels are very balanced at the plate and have six players with 30 or more RBI - Matt Ellington (54), Chad Flack (45), Justin Webb (41), Seth Williams (34), Josh Horton (34) and Jay Cox (34). Each total represents a career high.
AT IT AGAIN
After combining for 22 of Carolina's 43 wins as freshmen a year ago, the sophomore trio of Daniel Bard, Andrew Miller and Robert Woodard has been victorious in 22 of Carolina' 40 wins (55 percent) in 2005. Miller is 8-1, Bard is 7-3 and Woodard is 7-0 thus far this season. For their careers, Bard, Miller and Woodard have combined to earn the win in 44 of Carolina's 83 victories (53 percent) over the last two seasons.
BIG RETURN FOR MANGUM
Senior second baseman Greg Mangum saw his consecutive games played streak halted at 166 due to a hamstring injury at Florida State, but he made a splash in his return to the line-up against Georgia Tech, batting .308 (4-13) in the series. He did not commit an error in 18 chances and made several outstanding plays, one of which was featured as No. 4 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the Day for May 19. The Charlotte native injured his right hamstring in the May 13 loss to FSU and sat out the next three games. The last game in which he did not play was against Ball State on March 10, 2003. Prior to starting all 64 games in the 2004 season, Mangum played in the final 52 games of the 2003 season. Over the last four seasons, Mangum has started 198 games (145 at second, 53 at shortstop). He played 53 games at shortstop last season but has returned to second for 2005. Mangum has 159 career runs scored and needs just four more to tie for 10th in Tar Heel history, and his 240 career hits are just six shy of eighth all-time.
ELLINGTON DOUBLES CAREER-BEST RBI OUTPUT
With a team-best 54 RBI this season, redshirt sophomore Matt Ellington has doubled his RBI total of a year ago. He entered the season as Carolina's top returning RBI man with 27 in 2004 and now has 81 RBI for his two-year career. Having played in 55 games this season, Ellington has driven in nearly one run per game and leads the Tar Heels with 15 multi-RBI games. He also has a team-best 72 hits and 22 multi-hit games. Ellington has been extremely consistent this season and is fifth on the team with a .336 average. He has also totaled a team-high 15 doubles and a career-best nine home runs. He hit .364 and drove in a team-best three runs in the Georgia Tech series.
COX COMING ON STRONG
Sophomore outfielder Jay Cox has been extremely hot in May and leads the team with a .452 average (14-31) over this 10-game stretch. He has seven RBI this month and hit his second homer of the season in game one of the Georgia Tech series. Cox is slugging .581 over this stretch. This hot streak has raised his season average to .345 and he has driven in a career-best 34 runs. Cox's 11 doubles match his single-season best.
ROOKIE RUN PRODUCTION
Carolina's outstanding crop of freshmen have been a very valuable part of the line-up this season. As a group, the rookies have contributed a total of 149 runs batted in and 36 home runs. Freshmen have made a total of 197 starts this season, and the Tar Heels regularly start four rookies from a combination of infielders Chad Flack, Josh Horton, Reid Fronk, outfielder Seth Williams and catcher Benji Johnson.
RUN PRODUCTION BY CAROLINA ROOKIES NAME RBI HR Chad Flack 45 14 Seth Williams 34 13 Josh Horton 34 2 Reid Fronk 15 1 Matt Spencer 9 3 Benji Johnson 8 3 Kyle Shelton 4 0
FLACK ATTACK
After batting a team-best .384 in April, freshman infielder Chad Flack has picked up where he left off in May with a .351 average and five home runs through 10 games. He connected twice against Winthrop on May 10 for his first career multi-homer game and a career-high seven RBI. After adding a solo shot against Florida State May 13 and a two-run bomb against Georgia Tech May 19, Flack has 11 home runs since April 1 and has driven in 33 of his 45 runs since April Fool's Day. On the year, he is fourth on the team with a .342 average, first with 14 homers and second with 45 RBI. Flack's 14 homers rank among the best in the ACC and he stands among the league leaders in slugging in ACC games.
KALKHOF SPELLS RELIEF
Junior lefty Adam Kalkhof was brilliant in a pair of relief appearances last week, as he allowed no runs and just one hit over 6.1 innings. He walked two and stuck out four. In the May 17 win over East Carolina, he worked three hitless innings, and in the May 20 win over Georgia Tech he earned his fourth win of the season after allowing just one hit over 3.1 innings. Kalkhof lowered his season ERA to 4.10 and has made 15 appearances on the season, including eight starts. He has 34 strikeouts against just 14 walks in 48.1 innings.
CAROLINA RATES AMONG NATION'S BEST
With a 40-15-1 record, Carolina appears to be in good shape to secure a fourth straight trip to the postseason. After the series win over Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels were rated fourth in the WarrenNolan.com RPI, which is updated daily. UNC's No. 4 RPI rating was first in the ACC ahead of Miami (5), Georgia Tech (6), Clemson (8) and Florida State (22). Carolina is 12-12-1 against teams ranked among the top 50 in the RPI and 21-14-1 versus teams rated in the top 100.
HEELS DIG THE LONG BALL
With two homers in the Georgia Tech series, the Tar Heels are currently third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 61 on the season. Clemson is first with 68, while Georgia Tech is second with 65. With the losses of All-Americas Marshall Hubbard and Chris Iannetta, Carolina was not expected to have much power in the lineup this year. But the addition of key freshmen and a pair of career years have turned that into a strength. Freshman Chad Flack leads the way with a Carolina rookie record 14 home runs, while classmate Seth Williams is second with 13. The 27 combined homers for Williams and Flack are the second most for any duo in the ACC, trailing Clemson's Kris Harvey and Andy D'Alessio, who have tallied 35. In all, freshmen have accounted for 36 of the Tar Heels' 61 homers or 59 percent. Veterans Matt Ellington and Justin Webb each entered the season with just two career home runs each, but both now have nine.
WATCH OUT
North Carolina sophomore left-hander Andrew Miller finds himself on the watch list for most major collegiate baseball awards this season - the Dick Howser Award, the Golden Spikes Award, the Brooks Wallace Award and the Roger Clemens Award. A midseason second-team All-America according to Baseball America, Miller is 8-2 this season with a 2.79 earned run average. He has 90 strikeouts in 80.2 innings and is limiting opponents to just a .237 batting average. Miller has allowed just four home runs in 13 starts this year. The Gainesville, Fla., native is also a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week.
FROM MURPHY TO MANTEO
Carolina played 18 games against its in-state opponents, and posted a 15-3 mark during the regular season. Its only defeats were an April 6 loss to Elon and a pair of one-run losses at NC State. Carolina owns three-game sweeps over Wake Forest and Duke and has defeated UNC Wilmington and East Carolina twice. The Tar Heels also own wins over Appalachian State, Gardner-Webb, Davidson and NC State.
WEBB ON FIRE IN CONFERENCE ACTION
Senior Justin Webb has been at his best in ACC play this season with six of his nine home runs and 31 of his 41 RBI coming in conference action. Webb has had monster games of a career-best seven RBI at Virginia Tech, five against Virginia and four at NC State. In conference games, he ranks among the league leaders in home runs and RBI. Webb has set a career high twice this season with four hits in ACC play.
WILLIAMS, FLACK SWAP ROOKIE HOMER MARK
With his 12th home run of the season versus High Point on April 27, freshman outfielder Seth Williams set a Carolina record for homers by a rookie, eclipsing the 11 hit by Drex Roberts in 1981. Williams, however, held the record for less than a month, as classmate Chad Flack hit his team-best 14th of the season in the Georgia Tech series. Flack leads all ACC freshmen with the 14 homers, while Williams is second. Williams' 13 homers have come in 139 at-bats - one nearly every 10 trips to the plate. He is batting .288 with 34 RBI, while Flack is batting .342 with 45 RBI. The both rank among the conference leaders in home runs.
BULLPEN SLAMS THE DOOR
Despite blowing a pair of leads at Florida State in mid-May, Carolina's bullpen has been outstanding this entire season, as evidenced by the Tar Heels' 31-3-1 record when leading after six innings. Before losing a pair of late leads in Tallahassee, the only game UNC had lost when leading after six was the 4-3, 11-inning loss to Arizona State on March 4 at the Keith LeClair Classic. Carolina lost four key seniors from last year's group of relievers, but junior Jonathan Hovis and sophomore Matt Danford have been key in closing roles for the Tar Heels. The duo has a combined 9-5 record and 14 saves. Danford's nine saves are seventh on the single-season list at Carolina.
TAR HEELS TROUBLED BY ERRORS
UNC entered the year with an outstanding pitching staff, and the bats have come around as the season has progressed, but defensively the Tar Heels still have room for improvement. Carolina currently owns just a .958 fielding percentage and has committed 96 errors in 56 games. By comparison, Carolina committed 100 errors in 64 games a year ago. Over the last 20 games, The Tar Heels sport a .957 fielding percentage over the last 20 games but have been much improved over the last 10 games with a .969 mark and just 12 errors.
HOVIS SETS CAREER HIGH IN APPEARANCES
With three appearances last week, junior right-hander Jonathan Hovis set a new career high with 25 appearances on the season. Hovis, who ranks second on the squad with a 2.73 ERA, has pitched in both set-up and closing roles and is 5-4 with five saves and is holding opponents to a .245 batting average. Hovis ranks among the ACC leaders in ERA, strikeouts per nine innings, saves and opponent batting average.
DANFORD MOVING UP SAVES CHART
Redshirt sophomore Matt Danford picked up his ninth save of the season in the 7-6 win over Georgia Tech on May 20 and moved into a tie for seventh on the single-season save list at UNC. Danford's nine saves are the most since Derrick DePriest tallied 12 in 2000. The school record is 18 set by Thad Crismon in 1993. Danford, who ranks among the ACC's best in saves, missed all of last season with a right shoulder injury, is 4-1 with a 1.48 earned run average this season. The Tar Heels are 19-5-1 in games in which Danford has pitched. He displayed his durability in the Miami series when he worked 6.1 innings of relief in the May 17 tie.
