University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Hosts Gamecocks In Super Regional
June 7, 2007 | Baseball
June 7, 2007
Super Regional Notes in PDF Format
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Already the first team in program history to win back-to-back NCAA regional titles, No. 3 national seed North Carolina hosts South Carolina in the 2007 NCAA Chapel Hill Super Regional with a second straight trip to the College World Series on the line. The Tar Heels (51-12) and Gamecocks (45-18) open the best-of-three series at 7 p.m. Friday with games also slated for 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, if necessary. The first two games will be televised on ESPN, with Sunday's scheduled for ESPN2. Clay Matvick and Kyle Peterson will call the action. Additionally, Jones Angell and Adam Lucas will have the radio call of each game for the Tar Heel Sports Network on AM-1360 WCHL and TarHeelBlue.com.
|
Date |
Time | UNC Starter | USC Starter | Coverage |
| Fri., June 8 | 7 p.m. | Robert Woodard (Sr., RHP) 10-2, 3.02 |
Harris Honeycutt (Jr., RHP) 8-5, 3.59 |
ESPN/ THSN |
| Sat., June 9 | 7 p.m. | Alex White (Fr., RHP) 6-4, 3.87 |
Arik Hempy (Jr., LHP) 6-3, 3.38 |
ESPN/ THSN |
| Sun., June 10 (if nec.) | 7 p.m. | Luke Putkonen (Jr., RHP) 7-1, 4.46 |
Mike Cisco (So., RHP) 6-2, 3.76 |
ESPN2/ THSN |
TAR HEELS AT A GLANCE:
• North Carolina has advanced to the Super Regional round for the second straight season and the third time in the last five years. The Tar Heels, who are 2-2 in Super Regional action, will host their first-ever Super Regional at Boshamer Stadium this weekend.
• The Tar Heels are one of just three top-eight national seeds to advance to the Super Regional round. Only No. 2 Rice and No. 5 Arizona State also survived the regionals. UNC and Clemson are the only two Atlantic Coast Conference schools (out of seven) to advance to this weekend's action.
• Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament as Atlantic Coast Conference champion for the first time since 1990. The Tar Heels outscored their final three opponents in Jacksonville, 22-7, and topped Wake Forest, 3-2, in the title game to earn the league's automatic bid.
• In the final season at the current Boshamer Stadium, the Tar Heels are hosting just the fourth NCAA event at the 36-year-old park this weekend. Carolina went 1-2 at the NCAA East Regional in 1983 before sweeping the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Chapel Hill regionals. UNC is 7-2 in postseason play at home.
• Carolina's 51 wins already match the second most in program history, equaling the 1990 squad. The Tar Heels won a school-record 54 games in 2006. UNC's 51 wins are tied for the third most in the nation behind only Vanderbilt's 54 and Wichita State's 52.
• Carolina enters the weekend ranked No. 2 in all three major polls that were released this week. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 1 by Baseball America from Feb. 19 to March 12 for just the second No. 1 ranking in program history.
• Since losing a season-high three in a row from April 17-21, Carolina has won 19 of its last 22 games. The Tar Heels have slugged 23 home runs over this stretch and committed just 15 errors for a .982 fielding percentage.
• The Tar Heels are the most balanced team in the ACC, which placed a record-tying seven teams in the tournament field. Carolina is the only team in the league to rank in the top two in batting (.322), earned run average (3.24) and fielding (.974).
• Carolina has seven players with 35 or more RBI, which is one more than it had all of last season. Three Tar Heels - Dustin Ackley, Tim Federowicz and Reid Fronk - already have driven in 50-plus runs this year. Josh Horton needs just one RBI to give the Tar Heels four 50-RBI men for the second straight year.
• Despite going homerless over the last seven games, the Tar Heels continue to lead the ACC with 64 home runs, while also posting a league-low 242 strikeouts - 86 less than the next team.
• The Tar Heels feature eight North Carolina natives in their regular starting lineup. Three of their four starting pitchers are homegrown talent, as are three of the top four relievers.
RECENT TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Tar Heels are making their 22nd appearance in NCAA Tournament play and their sixth straight, which marks a school record. Mike Fox has guided Carolina to the postseason in eight of his nine seasons in Chapel Hill and sports a 23-14 (.622) record after last week's regional title. The Tar Heels have reached the regional final in six of their last seven trips to the postseason and are making their third Super Regional appearance in the last five seasons. In its 22 appearances, Carolina sports a 59-46 (.562) all-time NCAA record and has made five trips to the College World Series (1960, 1966, 1978, 1989, 2006). The Tar Heels came within one win of their first NCAA title on the diamond a year ago.
AGAINST THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: UNC built its tournament resume with a tough regular season schedule and now owns a 19-6 mark against 10 opponents in the 64-team field: Charlotte (1-0), Coastal Carolina (1-0), East Carolina (3-0), Florida State (1-2), Jacksonville (1-0), Miami (3-0), NC State (3-1), Virginia (2-2), Wake Forest (3-1) and Western Carolina (1-0). The Tar Heels are 4-4 against fellow No. 1 seeds, 10-1 versus No. 2s, 5-1 against No. 3s and 1-0 against No. 4s.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SOUTH CAROLINA: North Carolina and South Carolina will meet in the postseason for the fourth time in the last six seasons in this weekend's Super Regional. The Tar Heels hold a 58-33-1 lead in the all-time series, including a 25-10 mark when South Carolina was a member of the ACC from 1954-1970. The Gamecocks have held the edge in recent years with a 7-1 series lead since 2000. UNC has dropped six straight to South Carolina, including five in a row in the postseason. The Tar Heels' last win in the series came in the 2002 Columbia Regional. South Carolina eliminated UNC from the postseason from 2002-04, but each series was in Columbia. This weekend will mark the Gamecocks' first trip to Chapel Hill since 1988 and first-ever postseason games at Boshamer Stadium.
NOTING THE 2007 NCAA CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL:
• With Monday's 6-5 win over Western Carolina, No. 3 national seed North Carolina advanced to its second straight Super Regional and third in the last five seasons. The Tar Heels have won all six postseason games played at Boshamer Stadium over the last two years, including back-to-back come-from-behind victories over East Carolina and Western Carolina to claim the 2007 Chapel Hill Regional title. UNC has won 12 of its last 14 NCAA Tournament games.
• Regional Most Outstanding Player Josh Horton drove in the game-winning run with a two-run single in the top of the ninth inning. He went 5-for-12 in the regional with a team-high six RBI. Horton also earned ACC Tournament MVP honors and plated the game-winning run with a single in the ninth in the title game win over Wake Forest.
• Horton was joined on the all-tournament team by reliever Rob Wooten and outfielder Reid Fronk. Horton, who has 18 RBI in 17 career postseason games, was also named to the all-region team in the 2006 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional.
• Junior reliever Rob Wooten worked a career-long 3 1/3 innings against WCU in his 38th appearance of the season, which is tied for second on the Tar Heels' single-season list. He allowed no runs on three hits and struck out three. He went 2-0 and fanned eight of the 21 batters he faced in three regional appearances.
• Left fielder Reid Fronk went 3-for-5 with two runs scored Monday for his second straight three-hit game. He scored five runs over the last two games and now has 67 runs scored on the season, one shy of his 2006 total which is ninth all-time at Carolina.
• The 10 runs allowed in the June 2 win over East Carolina were the most in an NCAA Tournament win in Carolina history. The Tar Heels allowed nine runs in an 11-9 victory over Memphis in the 1978 South Regional final. Current head coach Mike Fox was a second baseman on that team.
• Before allowing five East Carolina runs in the third inning June 2, the Tar Heels' pitching staff tossed 11 scoreless innings to open the NCAA Tournament. All five runs were charged to starter Alex White, who had a run of nine consecutive shutout frames dating to the shutout of Virginia in the ACC Tournament snapped.
• With the 6-0 win over Jacksonville June 1, Carolina has won its last eight NCAA Tournament openers. The Tar Heels' last postseason-opening loss came in the 1998 Coral Gables (Fla.) Regional.
• With eight shutout innings against Jacksonville, senior right-hander Robert Woodard improved to 10-2 to become the 16th Tar Heel to win 10-plus games in a single season. Woodard and sophomore right-hander Adam Warren (10-0) combine to give Carolina a pair of 10-game winners in the same season for just the second time in school history, joining Scott Bankhead (11) and Roger Williams (10) in 1984.
HORTON THRIVES IN THE CLUTCH: Junior shortstop Josh Horton has been at his best in the clutch over the last two weeks, posting title-winning hits in both the ACC Tournament and NCAA Chapel Hill Regional. He has earned a pair of tournament MVP honors for his efforts and is batting .393 (11-28) with eight RBI over this seven-game stretch.
CAROLINA COMEBACKS: Carolina won its last two games in last weekend's regional in its final trip to the plate to cap dramatic comebacks. Against East Carolina June 2, the Tar Heels fell behind 5-1, 7-5 and 10-8 before scoring a walk-off win on a Dustin Ackley single in the ninth for an 11-10 victory. Two days later, UNC rallied from a 5-3 hole against Western Carolina to score a 6-5 win on a two-run Josh Horton single. Five of the Tar Heels' last eight NCAA Tournament wins have come in their last at-bat.
BYE-BYE BOSHAMER: This weekend will mark the final games played at Boshamer Stadium, as the Tar Heels will demolish the current structure later this month to make room for a new state-of-the-art facility. Carolina has been extremely tough at home over the last three seasons, posting a 104-16-1 (.864) mark. The Tar Heels have lost only two home series over the last three years to Miami in 2005 and to Virginia this season. Carolina is 6-0 in NCAA Tournament play at home over the last two years.
TAR HEELS IN ELITE COMPANY: The Tar Heels' 105 wins over the 2006 and 2007 seasons are the second most in the nation. Only Carolina and Rice - both 2006 CWS participants - have posted 100-plus wins over the last two seasons.
TOTAL WINS IN 2006-07 1. Rice 108 2. North Carolina 105 3. Wichita State 98 4. Clemson 94 5. Florida State 93
WOODARD WOWS IN THE POSTSEASON: Senior right-hander Robert Woodard has been stellar over his postseason career with a 4-0 record and a 2.23 ERA over 40 1/3 innings. He has thrown two of his five career complete games in the NCAA Tournament, including a three-hit shutout of Clemson in the 2006 College World Series. With his eight shutout innings against Jacksonville in the regional, he has started the first game of NCAA regional play for the Tar Heels in each of the last three seasons. Friday will mark his first career Super Regional start. Woodard is one of just three Tar Heels to win at least three postseason games.
MR. JUNE: Junior third baseman Chad Flack is batting .405 (32-79) with 18 runs, 18 RBI and nine extra-base hits in 17 career NCAA Tournament games. Two of his three home runs lifted Carolina to Omaha in a dramatic finish in game two of the 2006 Tuscaloosa Super Regional. But Flack is not alone, as six of the eight Tar Heels with 10 or more postseason starts are batting .329 or better in NCAA play.
ALL-AMERICA HONORS FOR ACKLEY, CARIGNAN: North Carolina first baseman Dustin Ackley and closer Andrew Carignan each claimed third-team All-America honors May 30 when the Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-America teams were announced by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. The ACC Freshman of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection, Ackley is the first Carolina rookie to earn All-America honors since Brian Roberts in 1997. Also a first-team All-ACC choice, Carignan is the first Tar Heel reliever to claim All-America honors since Derrick DePriest in 2000.
BULLPEN SHUTS THE DOOR: Anchored by All-America closer Andrew Carignan, Carolina's bullpen has been stellar this season. The Tar Heels are 43-2 when leading after six innings, 43-1 when leading after seven and 48-1 when leading after eight. Carolina's only losses this season when leading after six came against Penn State March 3 and Georgia Tech May 23 to open the ACC tourney.
AMAZIN' ACKLEY: Freshman first baseman Dustin Ackley is in the midst of one of the finest offensive seasons in school history. The national freshman of the year candidate is batting .427 with team-highs of 19 doubles and 65 RBI and figures to etch his name in the UNC record book in several categories. Ackley currently shares the school single-season batting record at .427 but is also moving up top-10 single-season totals in:
• RBI (65, needs two for 10th)
• Hits (109 - 2nd, needs four for record)
• Doubles (19, needs one for 8th)
• Total Bases (155 - 10th, needs two for 9th)
• Extra-Base Hits (29, needs seven for 9th)
NOTING THE ACC TITLE RUN:
• With a 3-2 win over Wake Forest in the championship game, North Carolina captured its first ACC title since 1990 and the fifth in program history. The Tar Heels are 5-4 in nine all-time championship game appearances. UNC is 63-57 in ACC Tournament action.
• Shortstop Josh Horton went 6-for-16 with four runs scored, three extra-base hits and two RBI en route to ACC Tournament MVP honors. After a double earlier in the game, he tripled home the game-winning run in the eighth inning of the May 27 title game.
• Horton was joined on the all-tournament team by Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff, Reid Fronk and Alex White.
• Tim Fedroff led the Tar Heels with a .467 average (7-15) over the four-game tournament and added five runs and three RBI.
• The Tar Heels won three straight ACC Tournament games for the first time since 2004 en route to the title. Carolina outscored its opponents 22-7 over the final three games of the tournament.
• UNC committed just two errors in the entire tournament and led the field with a .987 fielding percentage.
• Over the 3-2 win over Wake Forest and the 5-0 shutout of Virginia, the Tar Heels combined to allow just two runs on nine hits over 18 innings. Starters Alex White and Luke Putkonen gave up just one earned run over 13 2/3 innings in the final two games.
