University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina vs. Louisville Postgame Notes
June 19, 2007 | Baseball
June 19, 2007
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TEAM NOTES:
• North Carolina's 3-1 win over Louisville was its school-record 55th of the season, surpassing the 54 victories of 2006. At 55-14 this year, the Tar Heels have won 109 games over the last two seasons.
• The Tar Heels are now 2-0 in elimination games this postseason. Carolina posted a 9-4 win over South Carolina June 10 in its only other elimination game.
• The Tar Heels are now 6-3 in the College World Series in the last two seasons and 8-11 in six all-time appearances.
• Ninth-year head coach Mike Fox is now 27-16 in eight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Tar Heels are 63-48 in 111 all-time postseason games.
• The Tar Heels had a season-low three hits in the win over Louisville. Carolina's last game with just three hits was a 5-2 loss to Florida in the 2005 NCAA Gainesville Regional on June 4, 2005. Tuesday's win was the first by the Tar Heels with three or fewer hits in the Mike Fox era (1999-2007).
• Carolina's three-hitter was its first since a 10-0 win over East Carolina April 24. The Tar Heels' three hits allowed tied the fewest given up in a CWS game by UNC. Robert Woodard, who will start Wednesday against Rice, fired a three-hit shutout of Clemson in last year's trip to Omaha.
• Carolina's starters had allowed 10 runs in three innings over its first two games in Omaha before right-hander Luke Putkonen limited Louisville to just one run over seven innings.
• Louisville entered Tuesday's game with 22 runs in its first two CWS games, becoming just the sixth team to score 10-plus runs in its first two CWS games. The Tar Heels limited the Cardinals to just one run on three hits. They entered Tuesday's game with a .370 batting average in the postseason.
• By scoring three times in the second inning, Carolina took its first lead of two or more runs in the first five innings of a game since the win over Western Carolina June 4. The Tar Heels held a 2-0 lead in the third inning of that game before rallying for a 6-5 win.
PLAYER NOTES:
• Right-hander Luke Putkonen matched a career high with seven strikeouts Tuesday over seven innings, which equaled his longest outing this season. He allowed just one run on three hits - none of which came after the third - and a walk.
• Putkonen has struck out seven batters in a game on four occasions in his career, including three times this season. His seven-inning start matches his outing at Virginia Tech March 25.
• Set-up man Rob Wooten matched a UNC single-season record with his 44th appearance on the year. He has pitched in all nine NCAA Tournament games to match Derrick DePriest's 44 games in 1998. Wooten is 3-0 with 19 strikeouts in 14 postseason innings.
• Closer Andrew Carignan picked up a four-out save for his 17th of the season and the 32nd of his career, which is second at UNC and fifth in ACC history. He needs just one more save to match Thad Chrismon's school record of 18 set in 1993.
• With 55 1/3 innings on the season, Carignan now has enough innings to qualify for the Tar Heels' single-season ERA record chart. His 1.30 mark is currently ninth all-time.
• Shortstop Josh Horton's leadoff double in the eighth was the Tar Heels' first hit since the second - a span of 21 plate appearances - and the first base hit for either team since the third.
• National freshman of the year Dustin Ackley went 0-for-4 Tuesday to fall to .400 on the season. He was last under .400 following the March 9 win over Miami when he was at .396. Ackley is batting .077 (1-13) in the CWS.
• Dustin Ackley, Tim Federowicz, Chad Flack, Reid Fronk and Josh Horton each tied a UNC single-season record by playing in their 69th game in 2007. Fronk, who established the record a year ago, is the only Tar Heel to play in each game over the last two seasons. He has now played in 140 straight games.
• Shortstop Josh Horton struck out twice for just the second time this season and the ninth time in 195 career games.
• Left fielder Reid Fronk was hit by a pitch for the 19th time this season and the 40th time over the last two years.
