University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Tar Heels Respond Against Duke
March 9, 2008 | Baseball
March 9, 2008
By Adam Lucas
North Carolina had just finished a somewhat disappointing opening day of the 2008 ACC baseball season on Saturday. They'd split a doubleheader with Duke, winning the nightcap after struggling through a 13-4 loss in the day's first game. That defeat included three errors, four unearned runs, seven hit batters by Tar Heel pitchers, and a perplexing failure to advance runners or deliver clutch hits.
The Tar Heels boarded the bus outside Jack Coombs Field after their 1-1 league start. On the street, Duke students were lined up hundreds deep to gain admittance to the evening's Carolina-Duke basketball game. When Mike Fox climbed on the bus, his players suspected an explosion might be coming.
But it wasn't.
"I think they thought I was getting ready to get on them," the head coach said. "But I told them they probably couldn't have started the ACC season any better. Because if you don't show up on the road in this league, anybody can beat you. There are 27 innings in a three-game series and you have to be ready to play from the first pitch. If you're not, you have to be able to turn around and respond."
They did respond. After dropping the opener, Tar Heel pitchers walked just one batter while striking out 20 over the next 18 innings, picking up two straight impressive wins against a Duke team that entered the weekend ranked second in the ACC in runs scored.
As impressive as the pitchers were who threw over the last two games, what might have been even more impressive were the pitchers the Tar Heels didn't have to utilize. Carolina won the first league series of the year with just two innings from Rob Wooten, one inning from Nate Striz, and not a single pitch thrown by Brian Moran or Tim Federowicz. That quartet was expected to be among UNC's best relievers in 2008, but an emerging group of freshmen are providing quality bullpen depth.
That depth is led by redshirt freshman Colin Bates, who has posted a 2.08 ERA in four appearances and was dominant in his three innings on Sunday (0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts). Bates has shown a gift for pitching to contact, walking just three hitters in his 13 innings so far in 2008. He induced a pair of inning-ending double plays on Sunday.
Over the weekend, Tar Heel freshmen pitchers--including Patrick Johnson, Logan Munson, Bates, Striz, and Ryan Leach--threw 7.1 innings and allowed just one earned run.
"Their mound presence and confidence has been impressive," Fox said. "They've been well-taught in high school. They just have a presence about them that is unique for freshmen. It's not anything you can teach. You just have to have it. Those kids really work."
Credit for turning around the weekend will largely go to a more veteran pitcher--junior Adam Warren. After watching his team get beaten soundly in every aspect of the game in Saturday's opener, Warren threw 102 pitches over seven innings in the day's second game, allowing just six hits and striking out six. Had it not been for one bad pitch--which Blue Devil shortstop Jake Lemmerman ripped for a three-run homer--Warren would have been flawless.
"We had the best guy we could possibly have on the mound for that second game in Adam Warren," Fox said. "He's the most prepared, focused kid ever. He can sit over here in the freezing cold and 40-mile-per-hour winds and still be ready to pitch. That was huge for us."
Notes: Other than the UNC-Duke series, homestanding ACC teams went 13-2 on the opening weekend of league play. Clemson and Virginia won one game each to provide the only other road breakthroughs...The weekend saw the emergence of Mark Fleury, who had just two hits in 2007 but pounded out five hits and five RBI over the final two games of the Duke series. Fleury, a backup catcher, has primarily served as the designated hitter in 2008 but started the second game of the doubleheader at catcher and played well. "You have to go through some ups and downs to have success as a hitter," Fox said. "You have to do it on the road, with two outs, and in tough circumstances. If you don't get it done in the game, there's always that doubt. He's had some big hits early and that has given him confidence that he can be a good hitter in this league. You can't talk yourself into something like that. You have to do it."...
The Tar Heels stole three bases on Sunday...Garrett Gore was 1-for-12 at the plate but made several sparkling plays at shortstop...Chad Flack had a three-hit game in the second game of the series and consistently hit the ball hard all weekend...Rob Catapano narrowly missed earning the win on Sunday, working 4+ innings and scattering seven hits while striking out five and walking none. "Rob has gotten so much more confident than last year. When he's around the plate and can drop that breaking ball in there even against right-handed hitters, he's very good," Fox said. "I hated to take him out in the fifth, but it's not about a pitcher's wins, it's about us getting wins."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
