University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Faces Irish to Open NCAA Gainesville Regional Play
May 31, 2005 | Baseball
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May 31, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - With a 40-win regular season under its belt, the University of North Carolina opens its school-record fourth straight trip to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Friday in the NCAA Gainesville Regional at Florida's McKethan Stadium. The Tar Heels (40-17-1) earned the No. 2 seed in the regional and will face third-seeded Notre Dame (36-22-1) at 4 p.m. Friday. No. 1 seed Florida (40-20) and No. 4 seed Stetson (35-26) round out the double-elimination regional field. 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. Additionally, CSTV will televise each game of the Gainesville Regional.
2005 NCAA GAINESVILLE REGIONAL
Game 1: No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 3 Notre Dame
4 p.m. Friday (CSTV)
All-Time Series: North Carolina leads, 1-0
NCAA Championship: First meeting
VS. NCAA GAINESVILLE REGIONAL OPPONENTS
Opponent Overall/NCAA No. 1 seed Florida 16-11/1-0 No. 3 seed Notre Dame 1-0/0-0 No. 4 seed Stetson 5-8/0-0
NCAA REGIONAL APPEARANCES
1948, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1993,
1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES APPEARANCES
1960, 1966, 1978, 1989
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Carolina is making its 20th all-time NCAA appearance and owns a 46-42 record since making its first trip in 1948. The Tar Heels' four straight trips to the postseason are a school record, and they have made six appearances in seven seasons under head coach Mike Fox. He owns an 11-10 record in NCAA play, including an 8-6 mark over the last three seasons. Fox went to eight NCAA Division III College World Series and won the 1989 national title while at North Carolina Weslyan. UNC has made four College World Series appearances - 1960, 1966, 1978 and 1989. Fox was a member of the 1978 team that won two games at the event before being eliminated by eventual champion Southern California.
SCHOOL-RECORD POSTSEASON STRETCH FOR TAR HEELS
Carolina's fourth straight trip to postseason play is a school record, eclipsing three different three-year runs for the Tar Heels - 1982-84, 1998-2000 and 2002-04. Carolina, which has a record of 8-6 in NCAA play over the last three years, has advanced to three straight regional finals and won the NCAA Starkville Regional in 2003. The Tar Heels have advanced to postseason play five times since 2000, equaling the most successful decade in school history. Carolina also went five times in the 1990s and has been to the NCAA tournament in 10 of the last 16 seasons beginning in 1990.
GAINESVILLE REGIONAL OPPONENTS
Notre Dame: Surprisingly, Carolina and Notre Dame have met just once on the diamond, with the Tar Heels claiming a 14-4 win on March 31, 1956. Ironically, the game was also played in the Sunshine State in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida: The Tar Heels and Gators have played 27 times, with UNC holding a 16-11 edge in the series. The teams met in the 1960 District III Regional with the Tar Heels claiming a 7-5 win to advance to their first College World Series. Carolina was a regular visitor to Gainesville under Walt Rabb from 1949-75 and it has posted a 12-11 overall record at UF. The teams last met in 1984 with the Gators claiming a 4-1 victory.
Stetson: The Hatters lead the all-time series with the Tar Heels, 8-5, but the teams have not met since splitting a two-game set in 1985. All 13 meetings were played at Stetson, which is located in DeLand, Fla.
VERSUS THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
Carolina prepared itself for the postseason by playing one of the most challenging schedules in the nation. The Tar Heels played 29 games against 14 teams that reached the 64-team field of the 2005 NCAA tournament. UNC posted a 13-15-1 record in these games. The Tar Heels faced the following NCAA teams this season (record): Arizona State (0-1), Clemson (1-2), Coastal Carolina (0-1), College of Charleston (1-0), East Carolina (2-0), Florida State (0-4), Georgia Tech (2-1), Miami (0-2-1), Michigan (0-1), NC State (1-2), Ohio State (0-1), Virginia (3-0), Virginia Commonwealth (1-0) and Winthrop (2-0).
A LOOK AT THE TAR HEELS
Carolina has lost three straight heading into the NCAA Gainesville Regional and has dropped seven of its last 10 overall. The Tar Heels are batting .296 as a team led by outfielder Mike Daniel, who is hitting a team-best .361. Freshmen Chad Flack and Seth Williams have combined for 27 of Carolina's 61 home runs, while designated hitter Matt Ellington has driven in a team-best 55 runs. Sophomore starters Robert Woodard (7-0, 2.22 ERA), Andrew Miller (8-3, 2.74 ERA) and Daniel Bard (7-4, 4.16 ERA) give UNC a talented rotation, while veteran right-handers Jonathan Hovis (5-4, 5 saves, 2.62 ERA) and Matt Danford (4-2, 9 saves, 1.41 ERA) anchor the bullpen. The Tar Heels sport a 3.16 staff earned run average.
QUARTET EARNS ALL-ACC HONORS
Sophomore right-hander Robert Woodard earned first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors, while first baseman Chad Flack, shortstop Josh Horton and left-hander Andrew Miller were each named to the league's second team May 23. Voting by the league's 11 head coaches determined the annual honors. Carolina has now had at least four all-conference selections in each of the last three seasons. Woodard, Flack and Horton are each first-time honorees, while Miller was also named to the second team last season.
PREVIEWING 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 season-ending Georgia Tech series and has delivered to the tune of a 0.71 ERA over his last two starts - against the Yellow Jackets and Florida State. He has 12 strikeouts and just three walks over his last 12.2 innings. Over his last five appearances, Woodard sports a 1.26 ERA and has 22 strikeouts and seven walks over this 28.2-inning stretch. Woodard, who has allowed more than two earned runs just twice this season, sports a team-best 2.22 ERA on the season and is holding opponents to a .226 batting average. Over a career-high 89.1 innings this season, he has 75 strikeouts against just 17 walks (4.41-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. He made a pair of relief appearances in last year's Columbia Regional and allowed just one run on four hits over seven innings. Woodard earned a win with 4.1 hitless innings against Coastal Carolina in last season's opening round.
Andrew Miller (So., LHP): Sophomore left-hander Andrew Miller owns an 8-3 record and a 2.74 ERA. Despite owning a 4.98 ERA over his last eight starts, Miller returned to form in the ACC tourney loss to Wake Forest, as he went a season-long eight innings and allowed two runs on six hits and two walks. Miller fanned six and needs just four more to become the first Tar Heel with 100 in a season since Ryan Snare in 2000. On the season, he has a career-best 96 strikeouts and 50 walks over 88.2 innings. Miller is holding batters to a .232 average. He ranks among the ACC leaders in wins, ERA, strikeouts per nine innings, innings pitched per start and opponent batting average. In a pair of appearances at the 2004 NCAA Columbia Regional, Miller allowed six runs on four hits over 4.1 innings. He walked six and struck out five.
Daniel Bard (So., RHP): Sophomore righty Daniel Bard brings a 7-3 record and a 4.16 ERA into the 2005 NCAA tournament. 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 NCAA tournament start and allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in 5.2 innings against South Carolina last season.
SUNSHINE STRUGGLES
The 2005 NCAA Gainesville Regional marks the Tar Heels' third trip to Florida in the last four weeks. Carolina is 0-5 in the state so far this season. Florida State swept the Tar Heels in a three-game series May 13-15, and UNC also dropped both of its games at the ACC tournament in Jacksonville last week. Four of these five losses are by just one run and came in the winning team's final at-bat.
TAR HEELS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT ACTION
Carolina has experienced success in recent NCAA tourney action, reaching three straight regional finals. Senior second baseman Greg Mangum has been there for each game along this stretch and was named to regional all-tournament teams in 2002 and 2003. He owns a .294 average (15-51) and has committed just one error in 14 games. Junior outfielder Mike Daniel garnered all-tournament honors in Columbia last season and owns a .474 average (9-19) over the last two postseasons. Matt Ellington (5-10) and Bryan Steed (5-13) also enjoyed success at the plate in their regional debuts a year ago. On the mound, relievers Matt Danford and Jonathan Hovis both have 2.25 ERAs in NCAA play, while sophomore starter Robert Woodard posted a 1.29 ERA and earned a win in two relief appearances a year ago. Danford earned regional all-tournament honors in 2003 in Starkville, Miss.
PITCHING EXCELS, BATS STRUGGLE IN JACKSONVILLE
Despite allowing just two earned runs over 19 innings, the Tar Heels went 0-2 at the ACC tournament last week for the first time since 2001. After struggling late the season, the Carolina pitching staff returned to form in Jacksonville, posting a 0.95 ERA against Florida State and Wake Forest. The Tar Heels struck out 19 and walked just six over 19 innings and held opponents to just a .209 average. But UNC posted just a .200 average as a team in the tourney and scored just three runs on 15 hits in 21 innings.
HEELS REACH 40 IN REGULAR SEASON
With two wins over No. 2 national seed 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 tied Texas for the NCAA Division I lead. Virginia was next with 31 home wins. 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 21 one-run games this season, which ranks among the most in the nation. Carolina owns a 12-9 record in these tight contests. Six of Carolina's last nine losses have come by just one run, including three to Florida State, two to NC State and one to Wake Forest, which eliminated the Tar Heels from the ACC Championship at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
SCORING EQUALS SUCCESS FOR CAROLINA
With one of the nation'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 14-13 when scoring five runs or less. Conversely, strong performances by the pitching staff have also spelled success for UNC, as it is 34-5 when allowing less than five runs. Prior to the 3-2 and 2-1 losses in the ACC tournament, all three defeats when allowing less than five came in one-run defeats at the Keith LeClair Classic in early March.
HURLERS DOMINATE ACC LEADERS
Carolina's pitchers have dominated the ACC's leaders for much of the season and that fact carries into NCAA regional play. Three Tar Heels are among the league's top seven in ERA, three in the top nine in strikeouts per nine innings and four of the top nine in opponent batting average. Sophomore Robert Woodard is second with a 2.22 ERA, sophomore Andrew Miller leads the league with 9.74 strikeouts per nine innings and classmate Daniel Bard is fourth with a .223 opponent batting average. Junior Jonathan Hovis is second in strikeouts, sixth in ERA and ninth in opponent average.
HOMECOMING FOR MILLER
UNC lefty Andrew Miller should have quite a following in the stands in his hometown of Gainesville this weekend. The Buchholz High School graduate was named Gatorade Florida Player of the Year as a senior and also earned all-state honors. Miller is 8-3 with a 2.74 ERA and needs just four strikeouts to reach 100 on the season. He will move into a tie for sixth on the all-time list with nine more this season. Infielder Craig Corrado is from Tampa, giving UNC a pair of Sunshine State natives on the roster.
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 1.26 ERA over his last five appearances and a 1.71 mark and 5-0 record over his last eight 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. Over his last two starts, Woodard has allowed just one earned run over 12.2 innings against Florida State and Georgia Tech. On the season, he is 7-0 with a team-best 2.22 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 89.1 innings.
HORTON BEST ROOKIE AT THE PLATE SINCE 2000
Despite going 0-for-10 at the ACC tournament, freshman shortstop Josh Horton is batting .355, 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 two homers, 11 doubles and 34 RI on the season. After struggling defensively earlier in the season, Horton has committed just six of his 20 errors over the last 22 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 (55), 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. Mangum also batted .300 and played errorless defense at the ACC tournament. 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 200 games (147 at second, 53 at shortstop). He played 53 games at shortstop last season but has returned to second for 2005. Mangum has 160 career runs scored and needs just three more to tie for 10th in Tar Heel history, and his 243 career hits are just three shy of eighth all-time.
ELLINGTON DOUBLES CAREER-BEST RBI OUTPUT
With a team-best 55 RBI this season, redshirt sophomore Matt Ellington has more than 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 82 RBI for his two-year career. Having played in 57 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 74 hits and 22 multi-hit games. Ellington has been extremely consistent this season and is fourth on the team with a .332 average. He has also totaled a team-high 16 doubles and a career-best nine home runs. He has hit safely in 12 of the last 13 games.
COX COMING ON STRONG
Sophomore outfielder Jay Cox was extremely hot in May with a team-best .400 average (14-35) over this 12-game stretch. He had seven RBI last month and hit his second homer of the season in game one of the Georgia Tech series. Cox slugged .514 over this stretch. This hot streak has raised his season average to .337 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 150 runs batted in and 36 home runs. Freshmen have made a total of 204 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 10 3 Benji Johnson 8 3 Kyle Shelton 4 0
FLACK ATTACK
After batting a team-best .384 in April, freshman infielder Chad Flack picked up the power numbers in May with five home runs through 12 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 fifth on the team with a .328 average, first with 14 homers and second with 45 RBI. Flack's ranks fourth in the ACC in homers and is among the top 10 in total bases and slugging in league play.
KALKHOF SPELLS RELIEF
Junior lefty Adam Kalkhof has been outstanding in his last three relief appearances, as he allowed no runs and just three hits over seven 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 4.04 and has made 16 appearances on the season, including eight starts. He has 34 strikeouts against just 14 walks in 49 innings.
HEELS DIG THE LONG BALL
The Tar Heels are currently third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 61 home runs on the season. Clemson is first with 72, while Georgia Tech is second with 68. 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 36. 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.
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.
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 143 at-bats - one every 11 trips to the plate. He is batting .280 with 34 RBI, while Flack is batting .332 with 45 RBI. They both rank among the top four in the ACC in homers per game.
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 9-6 record and 14 saves. Danford's nine saves are seventh on the single-season list at Carolina.
HOVIS SETS CAREER HIGH IN APPEARANCES
Junior right-hander Jonathan Hovis has set a new career high with 26 appearances on the season. Hovis, who ranks second on the squad with a 2.62 ERA, has pitched in both set-up and closing roles and is 5-4 with five saves and is holding opponents to a .241 batting average. Hovis is second in the league in strikeouts per nine innings and is among ACC's best in ERA and opponent batting average. In his last appearance, he fanned a career-best six batters over 2.1 innings in the ACC tourney loss to Florida State.
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 4-2 with a 1.41 earned run average this season. The Tar Heels are 19-6-1 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.
