No. 3 Tar Heels Host Hokies In Cary

March 13, 2008 | Baseball

By: UNC Athletic Communications

March 13, 2008

Carolina-Virginia Tech Notes in PDF Format

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Third-ranked North Carolina plays its first weekend series at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex when Virginia Tech comes to town for a three-game set beginning Friday. The Tar Heels (11-3, 2-1 ACC) and Hokies (7-8, 0-3 ACC) will play at 4 p.m. Friday, 1:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. A webcast of all three games will be available live and on-demand via ACC Select.

Date	Time	UNC Starter	VT Starter	Coverage
March 14	4 p.m.	Adam Warren, RHP (Jr., 2-0, 7.90)	Josh Wymer, RHP (So., 2-1, 5.60)	ACC Select
March 15	1 p.m.	Rob Catapano, LHP (So., 0-0, 3.44)	Sean McDermott, LHP (Fr., 1-2, 4.58)	ACC Select
March 16	1:30 p.m.	TBA	Jesse Hahn, RHP (Fr., 1-1, 3.63)	ACC Select

NATIONAL RANKINGS: North Carolina is ranked No. 3 in three of the four major polls - Baseball America, USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll and the NCBWA rankings. Virginia Tech is unranked.

SERIES HISTORY: The Tar Heels hold a 45-23-2 lead in the all-time series with the Hokies. Since Virginia Tech entered the ACC in 2005, Carolina has won five of the six meetings. Last year in Blacksburg, the Tar Heels took two of three.

RECENT HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA TECH: Dustin Ackley hit .467 (7-15) with two home runs and five RBI at Virginia Tech a year ago ... Tim Federowicz is a career .385 hitter (10-26) with nine RBI in six career games versus the Hokies ... Chad Flack owns a .423 average (11-26) in seven games ... Garrett Gore is batting .438 (7-16) in five games ... Kyle Seager went 6-for-9 with two RBI in last year's series ... Kyle Shelton is 4-for-10 with three RBI in six games ... Seth Williams is batting .333 (6-18) in five games ... Rob Wooten allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings in his lone career appearance against the Hokies.

SCOUTING THE HOKIES: Virginia Tech brings a five-game losing skid into this weekend's series in Cary. The Hokies are batting .309 as a team with senior first baseman Sean O'Brien (.385-0-8) leading the way. Sophomore outfielder Steve Bumbry is the top run producer with three home runs and 17 RBI. On the mound, Virginia Tech sports a 6.11 staff ERA. The rotation for the weekend with be sophomore RHP Josh Wymer (2-1, 5.60), freshman LHP Sean McDermott (1-2, 4.58) and freshman RHP Jesse Hahn (1-1, 3.63), who was a prep teammate of UNC righty Matt Harvey at Fitch High School in Groton, Conn.

STREAKIN' SOPHS: Sophomore starters Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff, Mark Fleury and Kyle Seager are each on hitting streaks of six or more games. Ackley has hit in 18 straight dating to last season, Seager is on a career-best 10-game run and Fedroff has hit in eight straight, just one shy of his best run. Fleury has hit in six straight, as has senior Seth Williams to give Carolina five regulars with current hitting streaks of six games or better.

FEDROFF TAKING OFF: After batting just .143 in February, sophomore right fielder Tim Fedroff has been on a role since the calendar turned to March. In eight games this month, the Flagtown, N.J., native is batting .545 (18-33) with two home runs and six RBI. He has six straight multi-hit games, including four three-hit efforts in the last eight. He is batting .361 with four home runs, 10 RBI and 19 runs.

CAREER DAY FOR SHELTON: Senior Kyle Shelton entered Wednesday with just for hits on the season, but he needed just four at-bats against VCU to match that total. He had his first career four-hit game, equaled a career-high with three runs scored and drove in two runs. Shelton also tied a school record with two triples in a single game and raised his average from .190 to .320 in just one day.

THE RUNNIN' HEELS: After stealing just 47 bases in 73 games a year ago, Carolina has swiped 19 bags through 14 games in 2008. Dustin Ackley leads the way with five stolen bases and is 16-for-19 on the base paths as a Tar Heel. Carolina's opponents have stolen just five bases in 11 attempts.

SEAGER CLEANING UP: With classmates Tim Fedroff (.444 on-base percentage) and Dustin Ackley (.507) usually on base, sophomore second baseman Kyle Seager, Carolina's No. 5 hitter, has made the most of his RBI opportunities. After driving in 30 runs all last season, Seager shares the ACC lead with 20 RBI in just 14 games in 2008. He has equaled a career high with three RBI five times this season and already has driven in five runs this week. Seager is riding a 10-game hitting streak and is batting .404 with three homers and 14 runs scored this season.

CAROLINA RETURNS "HOME": After playing 10 of its first 12 games on the road, Carolina will become very familiar with its 2008 home - Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex - over the next three weeks. The Tar Heels are in the midst of a stretch of 19 out of 22 games played in Cary, where they are just 2-2 on the year. UNC two games into a seven-game homestand and after playing a three-game set at Maryland, the Tar Heels will play 12 straight in Cary.

DEFENSE DICTATES SUCCESS: In each of their three losses this season, sloppy defensive play has doomed the Tar Heels. Carolina committed at least three errors in all three losses and is just 1-3 when committing three-plus defensive miscues. UNC is 10-0 when committing fewer than three errors.

WARREN REBOUNDS: Friday's starter Adam Warren has responded over his last two outings after allowing eight earned runs in just 1 1/3 innings at Florida Atlantic. In starts at Winthrop and Duke, the New Bern native has a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings and has seven strikeouts to just one walk. Warren is 2-0 this season and 15-0 in his career.

ROAD WARRIORS: This season is a break from the ordinary for the Tar Heels, who will played 10 of their first 12 games on the road. In 2007, Carolina played just one of its first 23 contests away from Boshamer Stadium. The last time UNC opened a season with a similar stretch was 1985 when it played 14 of its first 15 games outside of Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are 9-1 on the road or at neutral sites this season.

BREAKING OUT THE BATS: The Tar Heels have tallied double-digit hit totals in each of their last six games and have raised their team average from .281 to .315 over this stretch. Carolina has pounded out at least 14 hits four times in the last six games and five times this season.

BATES BACK IN A BIG WAY: Redshirt freshman right-hander Colin Bates is a fixture in the bullpen this season after missing all of last year. The Naperville, Ill., native had thoracic outlet decompression surgery due to a blood clot in his right shoulder in November 2006 and spent last season rehabbing. Bates shares the ACC lead with his 3-0 victory and ranks 10th in the league with a 1.80 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 15 innings. He has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 1/3 innings.

ROOKIES SHINE ON THE MOUND: The Tar Heels are going to have to rely on a youth movement in their bullpen for much of this season. Carolina has already used a freshman or redshirt freshman in 28 of its 49 relief appearances this year with positive results. Rookie right-handers Colin Bates, Ryan Leach and Nate Striz have combined for five wins out of the bullpen.

PITCHING PICKS UP: Over the last 10 games, the Carolina pitching staff has registered a 2.12 ERA to lead the Tar Heels to an 8-2 record over this stretch. In 89 innings of work, UNC hurlers have walked just 32 batters and fanned 94 in the last 10 outings. Right-handed reliever Colin Bates has not allowed an earned run and has 11 Ks over 11 innings to lead the staff.

A FIXTURE IN THE RANKINGS: Carolina's ascent to the top of the college baseball world is evidenced by a number of facts and figures but one of note is the 89 consecutive weeks that the Tar Heels have been ranked in the top 25 of one of the four major college baseball polls. Carolina was last left on the outside of the national rankings on May 26, 2003, but entered the polls following the regional win at Mississippi State. The Tar Heels have been included in the top 10 of at least one poll for the last 46 weeks and in the top five in each of the last 28 weeks.