University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 2 Tar Heels Host Purdue For Weekend Set
March 2, 2006 | Baseball
March 2, 2006
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 2 North Carolina looks to remain unbeaten on the young season when it hosts Big Ten opponent Purdue for a three-game series at Boshamer Stadium opening Friday. The Tar Heels and Boilermakers, who have not met since 1984, will square off at 3 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. With six starters batting over .400, Carolina brings a .373 team average into this weekend's series. The Tar Heels have scored 10 or more runs in five of their last six games and are averaging nearly 12 runs per game.
Series Breakdown Game Time UNC Starter/Purdue Starter Fri., 3 p.m. Robert Woodard (2-0, 0.75)/Jay Buente (1-0, 1.12) Sat., 1 p.m. Daniel Bard (1-0, 2.77)/Brent Coudron (0-1, 7.36) Sun., 1:30 p.m. Andrew Miller (2-0, 0.00)/Dan Sattler (0-0, 54.00)All-Time Series Record: North Carolina leads, 5-1
Last Meeting: Carolina swept a doubleheader, 13-2 and 10-8, March 6, 1984, in Deland, Fla.
Series Streak: The Tar Heels have won four straight.
Fast Fact: The last three seasons Carolina has faced Purdue, it went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.
CAROLINA-PURDUE SERIES
The Tar Heels hold a 5-1 lead in the all-time series with Purdue. The teams played all six games between 1981-84, and this series will be the first time the teams have met outside the state of Florida. The last three seasons that Carolina has played Purdue (1982, 1983 and 1984) it went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue enters the weekend with a 1-1 record after splitting two games at the Mardi Gras Baseball Classic last week. The Boilermakers opened with a 5-1 win over Louisiana-Lafayette behind 11 strikeouts from senior starter Jay Buente, who will start Friday against Carolina's Robert Woodard. Lefty Brent Coudron (0-1, 7.36) is scheduled to start Saturday with right-hander Dan Sattler (0-0, 54.00) slated to take the mound Sunday. Purdue is batting .324 as a team, led by sophomore infielder Dane Wolfe, who hit .571 over the first two games. Preseason All-America infielder Mitch Hilligoss, who hit .404 a year ago, is 3-for-9 to start the season.
NOTING THE CAROLINA STARTERS
FRIDAY: Robert Woodard (Jr., RHP): A winner of his last 13 decisions, Woodard will start game one of the Purdue series. He is 2-0 on the season with a 0.75 ERA. Woodard, who has given up just one run over 12 innings, looks to run his career record to 19-2 overall and 11-0 at Boshamer Stadium.
SATURDAY: Daniel Bard (Jr., RHP): Bard is slated to start Saturday for the Tar Heels after matching a career high with nine strikeouts in a no-decision against George Washington Feb. 25. He has fanned 14 against just one walk in 13 innings this season.
SUNDAY: Andrew Miller (Jr., LHP): Miller has yet to allow a run and has surrendered just six hits in 13 innings this season. He struck out 11 versus GW in his last start for his fifth career double-digit strikeout game. Miller has struck out 20 and walked just two on the season.
LAST TIME OUT: CAROLINA 11, GARDNER-WEBB 8
Junior outfielder Jay Cox drove in two runs with an eighth inning bases-loaded single to lift No. 2 North Carolina to an 11-8 come-from-behind win over Gardner-Webb Wednesday at Boshamer Stadium. Five Tar Heels recorded multi-hit games as UNC scored in double digits for the fifth time in its last six outings.
Trailing 8-7 heading into the bottom of the eighth, Carolina loaded the bases as Reid Fronk was hit by a pitch for the second time and Josh Horton and Chad Flack followed with back-to-back singles. Cox then punched a single through the right side of the infield to score Fronk and Horton and give the Tar Heels a one-run lead. Flack added an insurance run on a wild pitch, and Cox crossed the plate when Bulldog left fielder Joey Testa dropped a fly ball for the 11-8 final margin.
Senior Jonathan Hovis (2-0) picked up the win in relief with 2.1 shutout innings. The Gastonia native came on with two out in the sixth, struck out two and allowed just one hit and one walk. Sophomore Andrew Carignan set down the side in order in the ninth to record his first career save in his first appearance of 2006.
TAR HEELS MATCH HIGHEST RANKING IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Rated No. 2 in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division I Poll, Carolina has matched the highest national ranking in program history. The Tar Heels were also ranked No. 2 for two weeks of the 2000 season.
Unbeaten at 7-0, Carolina moved up from fourth to second in the NCBWA poll after Clemson and Florida each suffered losses last week.
The 2000 edition of the Tar Heels, which opened the season 21-0, was ranked No. 2 by Collegiate Baseball and in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll March 6-13, 2000.
Carolina is also ranked No. 3 by Baseball America this week, matching the highest-ever ranking in the publication's top 25. The Tar Heels also ranked third by the Durham-based publication March 13, 2000.
CAROLINA UNBEATEN AFTER EIGHT
For the second straight season, the Tar Heels are unbeaten after eight games. Last year's team opened with nine consecutive victories before losing three straight at the Keith LeClair Invitational in Greenville. A win over Purdue Friday, and Carolina will match its best start since winning a school record 21 straight to open the 2000 season.
FAST START FOR SPENCER
Sophomore outfielder Matt Spencer led the Tar Heels to a 4-0 showing last week with a .474 average (9-19) and team-bests of eight runs scored, nine RBI, two homers and four steals. He set career highs in runs scored, hits and RBI in three different games last week. On the season, Spencer is batting .406 with three home runs, 14 RBI, 12 runs scored and five steals - all team-bests. He has already surpassed his 2005 RBI total (10) and has matched his home run total in just eight games. Spencer is currently riding a career-best seven game hitting streak.
ALL-AMERICAS LIVE UP TO BILLING
Junior starters Daniel Bard, Andrew Miller and Robert Woodard are living up to their preseason hype in the early stages of 2006. The trio of preseason All-Americas is a combined 5-0 with a 1.18 earned run average. They have struck out 41 batters in 38 innings and have walked just 6. Opponents are batting just .197 against Bard, Miller and Woodard.
THE RUNNIN' HEELS
UNC head coach Mike Fox said he wanted to run more this season, and so far so good. The Tar Heels have swiped 20 bases in 23 attempts through eight games, led by Matt Spencer, who is 6-for-7 on the base paths. Carolina is already a third of the way to its 2005 stolen base total of 61 in 81 attempts.
SOPHOMORE STREAKS
Three of Carolina's sophomore standouts are riding hitting streaks of seven games or more. First baseman Chad Flack is on a nine-game streak dating to last season's NCAA Gainesville Regional, where he hit safely in all three games. His career-best streak is 11 games. Classmates Josh Horton and Matt Spencer are both on career-best seven-game streaks, and Horton has six straight multi-hit games, including two three-hit games over this stretch.
HOVIS ANCHORS HEELS' PEN
Senior closer Jonathan Hovis has been savior in the bullpen, as Carolina's relievers have struggled at times this season. He is 2-0 with one save and has not allowed a run in nine innings of work. A winner in his last two appearances, Hovis went 3.2 hitless innings and fanned five in the 11-inning win over George Washington Feb. 25 and followed with 2.1 scoreless innings in Wednesday's win over Gardner-Webb. He is now 12-5 in his career with six saves.
FRONK STEPS UP
Sophomore third baseman Reid Fronk has enjoyed having freshman Mike Cavasinni hitting in front of him. Cavasinni leads the Tar Heels with nine walks and has given Fronk plenty of RBI opportunities in the No. 2 hole. Fronk has taken advantage of the speedy center fielder to the tune of 13 RBI on the young season and needs just two more to match his total for all of last season.
BALANCED ATTACK FOR HEELS
With a .373 average, the Tar Heels are off to a strong start at the plate. Freshman Tim Federowicz leads the team with a .517 average (15-29), but Carolina has featured a very balanced attack through the early season. Six starters are hitting above .400 with three hitting .500 or better. In addition to Federowicz, Jay Cox (14-28) and Josh Horton (16-32) are each batting an even .500.
Chad Flack is hitting .458 (11-24), Bryan Steed checks in at .435 (10-23) and Matt Spencer is batting .406 (13-32).
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 13-0 record over this stretch.
Woodard brings a 18-2 collegiate record into Friday's start, good for an .900 winning percentage, the best in program history. He is also a perfect 11-0 at Boshamer Stadium over the last three seasons and will look for win No. 12 against Purdue Friday.
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 48 of their 81 RBI. Spencer and Fronk have combined for 27 RBI this season after driving in just 25 runs all last season.
