University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina vs. Rice Postgame Notes
June 20, 2007 | Baseball
June 20, 2007
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TEAM NOTES:
• North Carolina's 6-1 win over Rice was its school-record 56th of the season, surpassing the 54 victories of 2006. At 56-14 this year, the Tar Heels have won 110 games over the last two seasons, which is second only to Rice's 113 victories over this stretch.
• The Tar Heels are now 3-0 in elimination games this postseason. Carolina posted a 9-4 win over South Carolina June 10 and a 3-1 victory over Louisville Tuesday in its other elimination games.
• The Tar Heels are now 7-3 in the College World Series in the last two seasons and 9-11 in six all-time appearances.
• Ninth-year head coach Mike Fox is now 28-16 in eight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Tar Heels are 64-48 in 112 all-time postseason games.
• Dustin Ackley's seventh-inning home run was the Tar Heels' first of the College World Series and second over the ACC and NCAA tournaments, a span of 14 games. Carolina's 66 home runs are tied with Clemson for the ACC lead.
• Rice's run in the seventh snapped a run of 15 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings by North Carolina pitching. The Tar Heels blanked Louisville for the final 8 2/3 innings Tuesday and kept the Owls off the board for 6 2/3 innings Wednesday. UNC has held its last two opponents to just two runs on 10 hits.
• Wednesday's game with Rice was the Tar Heels' 70th of the season, which marks the most games played in a single season in school history. Dustin Ackley, Tim Federowicz, Chad Flack, Reid Fronk and Josh Horton have played in all 70 games, setting a record for games played by an individual in a single season. Only Fronk has played in all 139 games over the last two seasons.
• Carolina's relievers have retired 12 of the 13 first batters faced in the College World Series.
PLAYER NOTES:
• After allowing eight runs in 4 2/3 innings over his last two CWS starts, Robert Woodard (11-2) gave up just one run in 6 2/3 innings against Rice Wednesday. He surrendered just five hits and one walk and held the Owls hitless between the second and seventh innings.
• Woodard's win was his 11th of the season, which ties Adam Warren for the team lead, and equals the fifth-best mark in school history. Woodard has also pitched a career-best 113 innings this season, which is the seventh most in UNC history. His 84 strikeouts are also a career best.
• Woodard picked up career win No. 34, which is first all-time at Carolina and tied for seventh in ACC history. He has also worked 375 2/3 career innings, which is second at UNC and 10th in the ACC.
• Right-hander Rob Wooten made his 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and his 45th on the season to set a school record. Derrick DePriest held the former mark with 44 games pitched in 1998. He has allowed just one run in 14 2/3 innings in the NCAA Tournament.
• All-America closer Andrew Carignan made his seventh postseason appearance (in 10 games) and his 38th of the season, which is tied for third on the Tar Heels' single-season list. He lowered his ERA to 1.26 to rank ninth in UNC history.
• Freshman first baseman Dustin Ackley broke the school single-season hits record with his 113th of the year in the fifth inning Wednesday. Chad Flack held the record with 112 hits a year ago. Ackley's single also broke a string of 12 hitless at-bats since a two-run base hit against Mississippi State in the Tar Heels' CWS opener. Ackley's 114 hits also lead the nation.
• Ackley, who was batting seventh for the first time all season, broke out of an 0-for-12 stretch with a 2-for-5 day, including a three-run home run in the seventh. The homer was his first since May 11 versus Georgia Tech and his first extra-base hit since May 24 against NC State in the ACC Tournament. Ackley's 71 RBI are tied for sixth on the Tar Heels' single-season list with Chris Iannetta's 2004 total.
• Freshmen starters Dustin Ackley and Tim Fedroff were a combined 4-for-24 in the Tar Heels' previous three CWS games but combined to go 4-for-10 with four RBI in the win over Rice Wednesday.
• Left fielder Reid Fronk was hit by a pitch for the second straight day and the 20th time this season. Hit by pitch totals have only been kept since 1981, but Fronk is the only Tar Heel to be hit 20-plus times in back-to-back seasons. Ryan Earey was plunked 28 times in 2000 for the highest total over this stretch.
• Garrett Gore's fourth-inning sacrifice bunt was the first for Carolina since game one of the Super Regional versus South Carolina, a span of five games.
