University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 4 Tar Heels Continue Home Stand Against Colonials
February 23, 2006 | Baseball
Feb. 23, 2006
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 4 North Carolina continues its season-opening 12-game home stand with a three-game series with Atlantic-10 opponent George Washington beginning Friday at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels and Colonials will square off at 3 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The Tar Heels enter the weekend with a .410 batting average and an average of 13.3 runs per game. The Carolina pitching staff has also been stellar with a 2.75 earned run average and has allowed just one earned run over the last 18 innings.
Series Breakdown
Game Time UNC Starter/GW Starter
Fri., 3 p.m. Robert Woodard (1-0, 1.50)/Derrik Lutz (0-0, 0.00)
Sat., 1 p.m. Daniel Bard (1-0, 3.86)/Brian Frazier (0-0, 0.00)
Sun., 1:30 p.m. Andrew Miller (1-0, 0.00)/Dan Pfau (0-0, 0.00)
All-Time Series Record: North Carolina leads, 10-4
Last Meeting: The Tar Heels and Colonials split a doubleheader in Chapel Hill Feb. 17, 1995.
Series Streak: Carolina has won four of the five meetings with GW since 1990.
Fast Fact: The Tar Heels and Colonials split two games in the 1948 NCAA Tournament, Carolina's first postseason appearance.
CAROLINA-GW SERIES
The Tar Heels hold a 10-4 lead in the all-time series with George Washington. The teams have met just five times since 1990, with Carolina winning four of these games. The Tar Heels and Colonials split a doubleheader in their last meeting on Feb. 17, 1995. The teams first met in 1907 and also played twice in the 1948 NCAA District III Regional in Charlotte.
SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
George Washington's season opener at James Madison was moved from Wednesday to Thursday due to weather concerns. Senior third baseman Tom Shanley, who hit .366 a year ago with eight homers and 43 RBI, is the Colonials' top returning offensive player.
Junior right-hander Derrik Lutz headlines an experienced GW pitching staff. He was 8-1 with a 2.79 ERA a year ago and is slated to start Friday. Sophomore righty Brian Frazier, who was 7-1 with a 4.06 ERA in 2005, should start Saturday with senior southpaw Dan Pfau scheduled to go Sunday. He was 4-4 with a 3.00 ERA last season.
NOTING THE CAROLINA STARTERS
FRIDAY: Robert Woodard (Jr., RHP): A winner of his last 12 decisions, Woodard will start Friday against George Washington and former Chatham A's teammate Derrik Lutz. He picked up a win against Seton Hall Feb. 17 after allowing just one run on five hits over six innings.
SATURDAY: Daniel Bard (Jr., RHP): UNC's Saturday starter, Bard was sharp in his first start of the season, scattering five hits over seven innings against Seton Hall Feb. 19. He allowed three runs but showed improved control and did not walk a batter.
SUNDAY: Andrew Miller (Jr., LHP): Miller worked six shutout innings and fanned nine against Seton Hall Feb. 19. He allowed just four singles and a walk and surpassed the 200-strikeout plateau for his career versus the Pirates.
LAST TIME OUT: UNC 15, COASTAL CAROLINA 0
Redshirt freshman Luke Putkonen carried a no-hitter into the sixth in his first collegiate start, and designated hitter Tim Federowicz and outfielder Matt Spencer combined for nine hits and eight runs batted in to lead No. 4 North Carolina to a 15-0 victory over Coastal Carolina Tuesday at Boshamer Stadium.
Putkonen (1-0) needed little support as he allowed just one hit over 5.2 shutout innings and struck out two. The Marietta, Ga., native battled through a three-walk first inning, but catcher Benji Johnson threw out two runners to keep Coastal off the score board. Putkonen then settled in to retire the next 14 batters he faced until allowing a two-out walk in the sixth. CCU center fielder Dom Dugan then singled to left to break up the no-hit bid.
Federowicz went 5-for-5 with three doubles and five RBI, all career highs. He tallied two-run doubles in both the first and second innings, as Carolina scored 10 times in its first two times at bat.
Spencer's four hits were a career best, as were his three runs scored. He also drove in three runs for just the time in his career and doubled twice.
TAR HEELS HOT OVER LAST TWO
Carolina has been red-hot at the plate over the last two games, outscoring its opponents, 36-2, in a pair of wins. The Tar Heels hit .464 over this stretch and combined for 39 hits in the 21-2 win over Seton Hall and the 15-0 shutout of Coastal Carolina. Sophomore Matt Spencer led UNC with a .714 average (5-7) over this stretch.
BIG DAY FOR FEDEROWICZ
Rookie Tim Federowicz had a career day in just his second career start with five hits and five RBI in the 15-0 win over Coastal Carolina Tuesday. He also doubled three times and had two-run doubles in both the first and second innings of the Carolina victory. The Apex native leads the Tar Heels with a .636 average and has seven hits over the last two games.
RBI MACHINE
Sophomore third baseman Reid Fronk has been the Tar Heels' top run producer over the first four games with 10 RBI. He drove in a career-best six runs in the 21-2 win over Seton Hall Feb. 19 and is currently batting .375 with two doubles and a home run. The Charlotte native drove in just 15 runs all of last year.
CAPE COD REUNION
A pair of all-stars with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod League will square off in Friday's series opener between the Tar Heels and Colonials. Carolina's Robert Woodard and GW's Derrik Lutz are scheduled to take the mound. The Tar Heels' Andrew Miller, who will start Sunday, was also a teammate of these two in Chatham, and they helped lead the team into the Cape League playoffs.
HOMECOMING FOR MROWKA
GW's second-year coach Steve Mrowka should be familiar with Boshamer Stadium, as he was a two-year letterwinner for the Tar Heels in 1986-87 and is a 1987 graduate of Carolina. He was a two-year starter on the infield at UNC. Mrowka led the Colonials to a 41-19 record a year ago and an appearance in the Atlantic-10 title game.
.500 CLUB
Four Tar Heels with at least 11 at-bats over the first four games are hitting at least .500 on the young season. Freshman Tim Federowicz leads the way with a .636 average (7-11), followed by outfielder Jay Cox at .571 (8-14), second baseman Bryan Steed at .538 (7-130 and first baseman Chad Flack at . 500 (8-16). Cox, Flack and third baseman Reid Fronk are the only four Tar Heels to hit safely in all four games this season.
STRONG START FOR STARTERS
Carolina's trio of preseason All-America starters, as well as redshirt freshman Luke Putkonen, were each stellar in their first starts of the season, posting a combined 4-0 record. The quartet of Daniel Bard, Andrew Miller, Robert Woodard and Putkonen has allowed just four runs in a combined 24.2 innings for a 1.46 earned run average. The group also has 19 strikeouts to just eight walks.
STEED ADDS PUNCH FROM 9 HOLE
Junior second baseman Bryan Steed's return as a regular starter as been solid to say the least. He is batting .538 (7-13) with five runs scored and a .600 on-base percentage and led the ACC in both average and on-base percentage before an 0-for-4 day Tuesday. Steed had a career-best four hits in the second game of the Feb. 19 doubleheader with Seton Hall and combined for six hits in the two games.
WOODARD'S A WINNER
After an 8-0 season in 2005, junior righty Robert Woodard is on quite a winning streak. The Charlotte native has not dropped a decision since a May 11, 2004 start against South Carolina at Knights Castle in Ft. Mill, S.C., and he owns a 12-0 record over this stretch.
Woodard brings a 17-2 collegiate record into Friday's start, good for an .895 winning percentage, the best in program history. He is also a perfect 10-0 at Boshamer Stadium over the last three seasons and will look for win No. 11 against George Washington Friday.
PUTKONEN SHINES IN DEBUT
Redshirt freshman right-hander Luke Putkonen is back at full strength in 2006 after sitting out last season following Tommy John surgery and it showed in his first career start Tuesday. The Marietta, Ga., product went 5.2 shutout innings and allowed just one hit. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth innings and retired 14 straight batters at one point.
YOUNGSTERS A YEAR OLDER
A year ago, Carolina regularly started as many as four freshman in its lineup - infielders Chad Flack, Reid Fronk and Josh Horton and catcher Benji Johnson. All four started at least 22 games with Horton and Flack starting 53 and 56, respectively. Two-way player Matt Spencer also made an impact with three homers and 10 RBI in 28 games (nine starts).
Thus far in 2006, this group has carried the Tar Heels with 26 of their 49 RBI. Fronk leads the way with 10 RBI, while Spencer has plated seven runs.
IMPACT NEWCOMERS
While Carolina should not have to rely as heavily on freshmen contributions as it has in the last couple of seasons, head coach Mike Fox expects big things from his rookie class. Mike Cavasinni has nailed down the starting spot in left field and will hit at the top of the order, filling the spot vacated by Greg Mangum. He is batting .200 with six runs scored so far this season.
Apex, N.C., catcher Tim Federowicz is also expected to see significant time between the plate, and classmate Garrett Gore (Wilmington, N.C.) should see plenty of action in the infield. Federowicz leads the Tar Heels with a .636 average through four games, while Gore picked up his first career hit with a two-run double Tuesday.
Impact rookie arms include righty Adam Warren from New Bern, N.C., who is in the mix to start midweek games, and lefty Matt Cox, who should fill the role of a situational lefty out of the pen. Warren has made two appearances so far this season, while Cox and Brian Farrell have made one appearance each.
HOVIS SET TO CLOSE
The Tar Heels' lone senior, righty Jonathan Hovis, enters the 2006 season as the squad's full-time closer for the first time in his career. The Gastonia, N.C., native has been one of the staff's most reliable relievers over the last three seasons and was 5-4 with a career-best five saves in 61 innings last season. Hovis was also fifth in the ACC a year ago with a 2.51 ERA and ranked second in the league with 9.44 strikeouts per nine innings.
Hovis is one of 30 relievers up for the second annual NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award, presented to the top relief pitcher in Division I college baseball.
Hovis, who has one save on the year, has closed two games so far this season and has not allowed a run.
CAREER STRIKEOUT WATCH
With nine strikeouts in his first start of the season, junior lefty Andrew Miller has 201 for his career. With 88 more strikeouts this season, Miller can tie Michael Hoog's school record of 289 set between 1987-90. Mike Bynum, a 1999 first-round draft choice, owns the mark for strikeouts in a three-year career with 276 from 1997-99.
TAR HEELS' TOOL BOX
Baseball America honored a trio of Tar Heels in its preview issue as having some of the "Best Tools" in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Junior left-hander Andrew Miller was rated as having the best fastball, while classmate Robert Woodard was cited as having the best control.
Sophomore shortstop Josh Horton was listed as owning the league's best infield arm.
CAROLINA A CONSENSUS TOP-EIGHT SQUAD
With a high ranking of No. 6 by Baseball America, the Tar Heels were ranked in the top eight in all four major presason polls. Carolina was rated No. 7 by both Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Tar Heels No. 6 rating by Baseball America was its highest by the magazine since the B.J. Surhoff and Scott Bankhead led team of 1984 was rated fourth to open the season.
