University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 1 Tar Heels Open Title Defense With Cavs
May 20, 2008 | Baseball
May 20, 2008
ACC Championship Notes in PDF Format 
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion North Carolina is the nation's new No. 1-ranked team entering the 2008 ACC Baseball Championship, which opens Wednesday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. In the second year of the round-robin format, the third-seeded Tar Heels (45-10) will face No. 6 seed Virginia (36-19) at 8 p.m. Wednesday followed by games with No. 7 seed Wake Forest (24-29) at 8 p.m. Friday and No. 2 seed Florida State (46-9) at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Jones Angell and Adam Lucas will have the call of each game for the Tar Heel Sports Network on TarHeelBlue.com, AM-1360 WCHL (Chapel Hill), 850 The Buzz (Raleigh) and AM-1150 WBAG (Burlington).
NATIONAL RANKINGS: By virtue of last weekend's series victory at then-No. 1 Miami, the Tar Heels moved to the top spot in all four major polls for the first time this season. It marks the first time in school history that UNC has been the nation's consensus No. 1 team.
TAR HEEL TRENDS: The Tar Heels are second nationally with 45 wins, and their 156 wins over the last three seasons top the country ... North Carolina (45) and Florida State (46) give the ACC the two winningest teams in college baseball this season ... The Tar Heels have won 20 of their last 23 games, 35 of 42 games and 12 of the final 15 in ACC play ... Carolina is the only team in the ACC to rank among the league's top three in batting and ERA ... Carolina's 2.63 ERA also leads the nation and it tops the country with 557 strikeouts ... The Tar Heels have allowed more than three earned runs just 11 times in the last 52 games ... Carolina's team average of .325 would equal a school record set in 2002 ... Six UNC regulars are hitting .310 or better and eight Tar Heels own 34-plus RBI ... UNC has already stolen more bases (61) this season than it did in 73 games a year ago (47) ... 2B Kyle Seager leads the ACC with a UNC record-setting 26 doubles and is second with 67 RBI ... Dustin Ackley (.395), Tim Fedroff (.383) and Kyle Seager (.382) rank among the top seven hitters in the ACC ... 14 of the 16 pitchers that UNC has used this season own an ERA of 3.29 or below, and nine own ERAs of 2.03 or under ... Junior RHP Adam Warren is 21-1 in his collegiate career and holds ACC and UNC records with his .955 winning percentage ... Senior 3B Chad Flack has established school records for career hits, at-bats and games played over the last month and needs 11 RBI to set a fourth career mark ... Sophomore OF Tim Fedroff hit for the cycle April 15 at UNC Greensboro.
RECENT TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Last season, the Tar Heels claimed their first ACC tourney crown since 1990 with a 3-1 record. Carolina went 2-1 in round-robin play with wins over NC State and Virginia before recording a 3-2 win over Wake Forest in the championship game. UNC is 3-5 over the three tournaments played at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Mike Fox is 10-17 in nine ACC Tournament trips. The Tar Heels have a 5-4 record in nine title game appearances.
AS THE NO. 3 SEED: The Tar Heels are seeded third in the ACC Championship for the fifth time and the first time since 2002. Carolina is 4-7 in 11 games played as the tournament's No. 3 seed with its best showing being a 2-2 record in 1987. UNC was also seeded third in 1976 and 1985.
SERIES HISTORY VS. OPPONENTS:
Virginia: Carolina won two of three in Charlottesville May 9-11 to improve to 169-94-4 against Virginia. The Tar Heels are 9-4 against the Cavaliers in the ACC Tournament, including a 5-0 win last year. UNC is 10-6 against UVa over the last five years.
Wake Forest: The Tar Heels and Demon Deacons did not meet in the regular season for the first time since 1945. UNC is 148-118-3 against Wake Forest, including a 9-7 record in the ACC Tournament. The Tar Heels posted a 3-2 win over the Deacons in last year's title game and are 11-3 against WFU in the last five years.
Florida State: The Tar Heels took two of three from Florida State in Cary April 25-27 to improve to 25-57 against the Seminoles. UNC is just 1-7 against FSU in the ACC Tournament. The teams have met in four of the last five events with UNC's lone win coming in 2002. Carolina and FSU have split 10 games over the last three years.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST YEAR: Five Tar Heels, including three current team members, earned ACC All-Tournament honors en route to Carolina's first crown since 1990. Then-freshmen Tim Fedroff (.467, 3 RBI), Dustin Ackley (.353, 3 RBI) and Alex White (7 shutout innings vs. Virginia) were honored, as were tournament MVP Josh Horton and Reid Fronk.
HEELS RETURN TO NO. 1: Last weekend's series win at then-No. 1 Miami vaulted the Tar Heels into the No. 1 spot in the rankings for the first time since March 12, 2007, and for just the 10th week in school history. But this week should mark the first time in program history that Carolina has been the consensus top-ranked team in the nation. UNC was ranked No. 1 by one of the four major polls for five weeks in 2006 and by Baseball America for four weeks last season. Carolina owns a 28-8 record when ranked No. 1.
SIX TAR HEELS NAMED ALL-ACC: Led by Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year Alex White, North Carolina had six individuals earn spots on the league's all-conference teams, which were announced Monday. White was joined on the first team by outfielder Tim Fedroff, while first baseman Dustin Ackley, catcher Tim Federowicz, second baseman Kyle Seager and relief pitcher Rob Wooten garnered second-team honors.
NOTING THE MIAMI SERIES: By taking two of three from Miami, Carolina improved to 14-11 under Mike Fox against the nation's No. 1 team ... The Tar Heels have taken four of their last six regular season series from the top-ranked team and also won two of three from No. 1 Rice at last year's CWS ... UNC has won three straight series from Miami and five of the last six ... The Tar Heels have also won their last three series in Coral Gables dating to 2004 ... Carolina's 12 runs in the series finale were the most allowed by UM this season ... Dustin Ackley hit .455 (5-11) in the series to lead the team, while Tim Fedroff hit .429 (6-14) with two homers and seven RBI to earn ACC Player of the Week honors ... UNC posted a 9.00 ERA and issued 23 walks in the series ... The Tar Heels handed Miami's Eric Erickson his first loss of the season with the May 16 win.
10 FOR 10 IN 2008: Carolina went 9-0-1 in its Atlantic Coast Conference weekend series to rank as the lone league school to not drop an ACC series this year. This year marked the first time that the Tar Heels accomplished this feat since the league went to the three-game set format in 1990. Carolina has not lost an ACC series in its last 13 chances dating to last season. UNC split its two-game set with NC State for the lone series that it did not win outright.
CAROLINA NO. 1 IN RPI: The Tar Heels appear to be heading down the right path for earning a second straight national seed, as they were ranked No. 1 in Monday's WarrenNolan.com Ratings Percentage Index. UNC was one of four teams from the ACC in the top eight. The RPI is used by the NCAA as one of the factors for determining seeding and host sites for the postseason.
SWINGING IT IN MAY: Since breaking eight days for final exams in early May, the Tar Heels have hit .342 over a nine-game stretch that included series wins at Virginia and Miami. Carolina has five players batting more than .350 over this stretch, including Dustin Ackley (.441), Kyle Shelton (.429) and Garrett Gore (.406).
HEELS MATCH RECORD MARKS: With a 45-10 overall record and a 22-7 mark in ACC action, the Tar Heels matched school records for regular-season wins and conference victories. Carolina has posted 45 regular season wins in each of the last three seasons, and its 22 league wins equaled the 2006 squad.
RECORD RUN IN THE ACC: The Tar Heels have posted a 65-24 (.730) record in ACC action over the last three years and have registered the top three single-season ACC win totals in school history in the process. The 65 league wins over the last three years are one more than Florida State's 64 wins to top the league. UNC is also the only team to top the 20-win mark in each of the last three seasons.
UNC SPORTS NATION'S TOP STAFF: Pitching has been the backbone of this year's Carolina team, and the Tar Heels should rank as the national leader in earned run average (2.63), strikeouts per nine innings (10.1) and fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.51) when the latest NCAA starts are released. This year's staff is extremely balanced with 12 pitchers having made 13 or more appearances and nine hurlers with a sub-2.03 ERA.
SUPER SOPHOMORES: Offensively, Carolina has been carried by its sophomore trio of Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff and Kyle Seager, who have ranked among the ACC's top hitters all season long. This group is batting a collective .387 on the season with 59 doubles, 26 home runs, 164 RBI and 35 stolen bases. They combined for 10 RBI in the series win at Miami. This group also ranks among the top hitters in Carolina history as Ackley owns the top career average in school history at .399. Fedroff ranks fourth at .364, and Seager is 11th at .347.
ACKLEY FUELS STRETCH RUN: Dustin Ackley has paced Carolina to its 20-3 record over the last 23 games with a .451 average (41-91) from the leadoff spot. He is reaching base at a .549 clip over this run to help set the stage for Kyle Shelton, who is hitting .375 over this hot streak, Tim Fedroff and Kyle Seager, who have combined for 76 of Carolina's 162 RBI since the April 8 loss to Elon.
POWER SURGE FOR SHELTON: Senior Kyle Shelton entered this season with just one career home run, but the Charlotte native has belted three of the Tar Heels' last five homers. He has four home runs on the year - all in the last 19 games - and has posted career-best totals of a .349 average and 34 RBI. Shelton recorded his fourth four-hit game of the season in the finale at Miami.
BULLPEN SPELLS RELIEF: What was a question mark entering the season has quickly become a strength, as Carolina's bullpen sports a 1.79 ERA, a 17-3 record and eight saves in the regular season. Of the 15 hurlers to work in relief, only three pitchers have posted ERAs over 3.00 out of the bullpen. Six of the seven relievers with 13 or more appearances sport ERAs of 2.03 or less. Additionally, the UNC bullpen has walked just 104 batters to 289 strikeouts in 246 2/3 innings.
PITCHING BETTERING 2006 & 2007: Despite losing a pair of first-round picks, the program's all-time winningest pitcher and an All-America closer off the last two teams, Carolina's pitching staff has not missed a beat this season and leads the nation with a 2.63 earned run average and a school-record 557 strikeouts through 55 games. This ERA is more than half a run better than the 3.15 mark at this point in the season last year. The 2006 staff logged a 3.11 ERA through 55 games.
STARTERS STRUGGLES: Carolina won its last three ACC series against nationally-ranked opponents but did so with its weekend starters struggling. Over the final three league weekends, Alex White, Adam Warren and Matt Harvey earned just two wins. In nine starts, this trio has pitched six innings just once and lasted at least five innings only three times. In these nine games, the starting pitcher has issued at least four walks on seven occasions.
