University of North Carolina Athletics
Veteran Tar Heels Face LSU Sunday
June 12, 2008 | Baseball
June 12, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 2 national seed North Carolina adds yet another chapter to the most successful period in program history with its third straight trip to the College World Series at Omaha's storied Rosenblatt Stadium. The Tar Heels (51-12) are unbeaten in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and will open the seventh CWS in school history Sunday against LSU (48-17-1) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
The Tar Heels and Tigers will be joined on their half of the Omaha bracket by Rice and Fresno State. Each CWS game will nationally televised by ESPN or ESPN2. Additionally, 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).
TAR HEEL TRENDS:
• North Carolina is making its third straight trip to Omaha for the first time in school history. The Tar Heels, who will play in the College World Series for the seventh time in program history, are 10-13 in their previous six trips to the CWS but own an 8-5 record over the last two years.
• The Tar Heels are one of just two teams to advance to the College World Series in each of the last three seasons, joining Rice. Carolina defeated the Owls in two of their three meetings in last year's CWS to advance to the championship series. UNC and Rice are also the only teams to make repeat trips to the CWS from last year.
• UNC joins Florida State as the only ACC programs to reach the College World Series in three straight years. Mike Fox and Florida State's Mike Martin, who both attended high school in Charlotte, N.C., are the only coaches in league history to guide their clubs to three consecutive CWS appearances.
• Head coach Mike Fox has been a part of all 10 wins by North Carolina in the College World Series - eight as a head coach and two as a player.
• The Tar Heels went through regional and super regional play unbeaten for the second time in the last three years and outscored their opponents by a 51-20 margin. Carolina is 15-1 in regional and super regional play over the last three seasons.
• Carolina's No. 2 national seed is the best in program history. The Tar Heels, who are seeded behind only Miami, hosted their second straight NCAA Super Regional and third straight NCAA Regional but their first at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex while Boshamer Stadium undergoes an estimated $25.5 million renovation.
• North Carolina is ranked in the top four in the most recent editions of all four major national polls. The Tar Heels, who owned a consensus No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history three weeks ago, hold the No. 2 spot in the NCBWA Poll for their top ranking.
• The Tar Heels are third nationally with 51 wins, which ties the 1990 club for the third most in school history. UNC is the only team in the nation to win 50 games in each of the last three years, and its 162 wins from 2006-08 also tops the country.
• Carolina is the most balanced team in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels are the only team to rank among the league's top four in batting (.324), ERA (2.83) and fielding percentage (.972).
• UNC's pitching staff leads the nation with a 2.83 ERA, 640 strikeouts and a .227 opponent batting average. The Tar Heels are second with eight shutouts, just one off the school record of nine set in 2006.
• The six-man senior class registered its 203rd win in Sunday's victory over Coastal Carolina. The previous mark for the most wins by a senior class in a four-year period were the 162 victories of the 2003 class.
• Carolina has eight players with 37-plus RBI, which is already one more than it had all of last season.
• In Dustin Ackley (.408) and Tim Fedroff (.398), the Tar Heels own two of the top three hitters in the ACC.
• Adam Warren is 22-1 in his collegiate career and holds ACC and UNC records with a .957 winning percentage.
• Chad Flack is Carolina's career record holder in hits, at-bats, total bases and games played. He needs eight RBI in Omaha to add a fifth career record.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Tar Heels are making their 23rd appearance in NCAA Tournament play and their seventh straight, which marks a school record. Mike Fox has guided Carolina to the postseason in nine of his 10 seasons in Chapel Hill and sports a 35-18 (.660) NCAA record after sweeping through regional and super regional play. The Tar Heels have reached the regional final in seven of their last eight trips to the postseason and advanced to their fourth Super Regional appearance in the last six seasons and third straight. In its 23 appearances, Carolina sports a 70-50 (.583) all-time NCAA record and has made seven trips to the College World Series (1960, 1966, 1978, 1989, 2006, 2007, 2008). The Tar Heels are making a school-record third straight trip to Omaha.
CAROLINA'S CWS HISTORY: The Tar Heels are making their seventh College World Series appearance - and their third straight - and have compiled a 10-13 record in their first six trips to Omaha. The Tar Heels have reached the championship series in each of the last two years and have recorded eight of their 10 CWS wins in the last two seasons.
FOX IN RARE COMPANY: Head coach Mike Fox has joined an exclusive group over the last three years, becoming just the 10th head coach to both play and coach in the College World Series. Fox, who has been a part of all 10 wins by UNC in the CWS, is also one of just six men to reach Omaha as a player and then guide his alma mater back to the CWS as a head coach. Joining Fox in this group are: Mike Gillespie (Southern California), George Horton (Cal State Fullerton), Jack Kaiser (St. John's), Mark Marquess (Stanford) and Joe Russo (St. John's). Fox, who has been a part of all 10 wins by Carolina in Omaha, was a member of the 1978 All-CWS team after batting .250 (4-16) with a home run, triple and three RBI.
HEELS JOIN ACC ELITE: North Carolina is just the second team in Atlantic Coast Conference history to reach the College World Series in three straight seasons, joining Florida State, which advanced to Omaha for three straight years between 1994-96. Miami posted runs of five (1978-82) and six (1994-99) straight trips to the CWS before joining the ACC prior to the 2005 season.
HISTORY VS. CAROLINA'S BRACKET:
Fresno State: The Tar Heels are 2-2 in four all-time meetings with Fresno State. Mike Fox is 1-1 against the Bulldogs, as Carolina split a pair of games in Fresno at the 1999 Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic. UNC also posted a win over Fresno State in the 1990 Carolina Invitational at Boshamer Stadium.
LSU: Carolina is 0-2 all-time against LSU, losing on neutral sites in regular season tournaments in 1990 and 1997. The Tigers posted an 11-4 win in the teams' last meeting at the 1997 Winn-Dixie Showdown in New Orleans.
Rice: Carolina is 3-2 against Rice and won two of three meetings with the Owls in last year's College World Series. After a 14-4 loss, the Tar Heels bounced back with 6-1 and 7-4 wins in elimination games to advance to their second straight championship series. UNC and Rice also met in 2000 and 2004.
OMAHA EXPERIENCE: The Tar Heels bring seven potential starters with at least five starts in the College World Series back to Omaha in 2008. A quartet of Tar Heels - Tim Federowicz, Chad Flack, Garrett Gore and Seth Williams have started each of UNC's 13 games in the CWS over the last two years. Starting pitchers Alex White and Adam Warren have made a combined five appearances (three starts) in Omaha, and ace reliever Rob Wooten set an NCAA record last year with six appearances in a single College World Series.
¬¬TOURNEY TESTED: Carolina's expected starting line-up for the College World Series owns a wealth of postseason experience, as eight potential starters have played in at least 17 NCAA Tournament games. Chad Flack, Seth Williams, Tim Federowicz and Garrett Gore each have started more than 25 NCAA games.
A COMPLETE TEAM: UNC has performed well in all three phases of the game over its run to Omaha. The Tar Heels are batting .337 as a team over the five postseason games, have posted a .989 fielding percentage and have registered a 4.00 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 45 innings on the mound. Carolina has won its five games by an average of more than six runs (51-20).
SOPHS SETTING THE TABLE: All-Americas Dustin Ackley and Tim Fedroff have jump-started the Tar Heel offense in the postseason with a combined .535 average as Carolina has swept through five games en route to Omaha. Fedroff is batting .571 (12-21) with 10 RBI, while Ackley checks in at .500 (11-22) with six RBI.
ACKLEY FUELS STRETCH RUN: Since moving into the leadoff spot permanently against Georgia Tech April 4, Dustin Ackley has hit .430 (61-142) but also has paced the Tar Heels to early leads down the stretch run. Over this 35-game stretch, he has scored a first-inning run 10 times, and he has scored a first-inning run in three of Carolina's five NCAA Tournament games. With Ackley on base, the Tar Heels have scored five first-inning runs in five NCAA games this season after scoring just three in 13 postseason games a year ago. For the season, the Tar Heels have already eclipsed their first-inning scoring from last year despite playing ten fewer games so far. Carolina has 49 first-inning runs in 63 games (0.78/game) this season after scoring 47 first-inning runs in 73 games in 2007.
POSTSEASON GLOVE WORK: Carolina has played some of its best defense of the season in the NCAA Tournament with just two errors in five games and a .989 fielding percentage. The Tar Heels are 42-4 this season when making less than two errors.
STARTERS SHINING: North Carolina has gotten outstanding work from its three primary starting pitchers over the ACC and NCAA tournaments, as Alex White, Adam Warren and Matt Harvey are a combined 4-0 with a 1.62 ERA and 53 strikeouts over eight starts. White is 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 23 innings; Warren is 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 16 innings; and Harvey is 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 11 innings.
FEDROFF ROLLS TO M.O.P.: All-America outfielder Tim Fedroff hit .818 (9-11) and drove in eight runs to claim Most Outstanding Player honors at the NCAA Cary Regional. The Flagtown, N.J., product tied career highs with four hits and six RBI against Mount St. Mary's and added three hits and two RBI in the regional final against UNC Wilmington. He is batting a team-high .571 with 10 RBI over the NCAA Tournament.
GRAEPEL SURES UP DEFENSE: Making five straight starts for the first time in his career, sophomore Ryan Graepel helped to sure up the Tar Heels' infield defense with back-to-back error-free weekends at shortstop in the Cary Regional and Super Regional. Graepel is perfect in 26 chances and is batting .278 (5-18) with three doubles in the postseason.
THE CENTURY CLUB: With 105 and 104 hits, respectively, Tim Fedroff and Dustin Ackley have posted two of the top five hit totals in school history this season and registered just the sixth and seventh 100-hit seasons in program history in the process. Five of the seven 100-hit seasons in program history have come in the last three seasons - Chad Flack and Josh Horton in 2006, Ackley in 2007 and Fedroff and Ackley in 2008. Ackley is the first player in school history with a pair of 100-hit seasons.
A VETERAN BUNCH: North Carolina brings a veteran club to Omaha for the third straight year with seven position players with at least 111 starts and eight position player with at least 125 games played under their belts. In veterans Chad Flack (258), Seth Williams (215) and Tim Federowicz (202), the Tar Heels have three players that have started at least 200 games over the last three seasons.
FEDEX DELIVERS IN POSTSEASON: Junior Tim Federowicz, also known as FedEx, has delivered a team-high 26 RBI, five home runs and seven doubles in 29 career postseason games.
NCAA WORK FOR WOOTEN: Senior Rob Wooten had never seen action in a postseason game entering last season but has pitched in 16 games and is 4-0 with a save and a 1.57 ERA in 23 innings in 2007-08. Wooten, who has pitched in 86 games over the last two years, worked in the Tar Heels' first 11 games a year ago and set an NCAA record with six appearances in a single College World Series in 2007. He needs just one more postseason win with to equal the school record for NCAA victories.
SENIOR SLUGGERS: Seniors Chad Flack and Seth Williams are Carolina's two most experienced players and are among the team's top postseason performers. Flack, known for his dramatic Super Regional home runs in 2006 and 2007, is a .306 (44-144) hitter with four home runs, three triples, four doubles and 25 RBI in 32 postseason games. In 31 games, Williams owns a .357 average (40-112) with eight doubles, three homers and 16 RBI. Williams, who earned a spot on the NCAA Cary Regional All-Tournament Team, has hit safely in 27 of his 31 career postseason games.
A PILE OF POSTSEASON WINS: With a 23-6 NCAA Tournament record over the last three seasons, Carolina has recorded nearly one-third (32.8 percent) of the postseason wins in program history from 2006-08. UNC is 70-50 in 23 trips to the postseason.
SECOND STRAIGHT NATIONAL SEED: The No. 2 seed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Carolina has earned its second straight national seed and just the second in school history since the NCAA went to its current tourney format in 1999. The Tar Heels were seeded third last season.
POSTSEASON HOME COOKING: Carolina has been outstanding at home in the postseason over the past two seasons, logging a 13-1 record in Chapel Hill and Cary in the last three regionals and the last two Super Regionals. The Tar Heels are unbeaten in nine regional games at home over the last three seasons and have won six straight home games in the NCAA Tournament dating to last year's Super Regional.
SOPHOMORES MAKE HISTORY: Second-year standouts Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff, Kyle Seager and Alex White each garnered Louisville Slugger All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball newspaper May 30, giving the Tar Heels a quartet of All-Americas in the same season for the first time in school history. Fedroff was named to the second team, while Ackley, Seager and White claimed spots on the third team. Carolina's four selections, which outdistanced the Tar Heels' three All-Americas in 1994 and 2002 for the most in school history, were also the most of any team on this year's Collegiate Baseball squads.
WALLACE WATCH: Dustin Ackley and Tim Fedroff are among the 16 players remaining on the "Wallace Watch" list for the Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award, which was released June 3. Carolina joins Miami and Arizona State as the only schools with a pair of nominees.
RATED ROOKIES: North Carolina pitchers Colin Bates and Matt Harvey were honored for their outstanding rookie seasons June 4 with a spot on Collegiate Baseball newspaper's Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America squad. This year's selections mark the seventh straight season that the Tar Heels have placed at least one freshman on the publication's award list. This tandem was also honored Monday with spots on the first-ever NCBWA Freshmen All-America team. Bates was a first-team selection, while Harvey was a second-team choice.
WHITE OUT: ACC Pitcher of the Alex White has logged three of his top career outings in his last three starts, as he has struck out 25 and allowed just 14 hits over his last 23 innings against Virginia, UNC Wilmington and Coastal Carolina. He fired his first career complete game in the regional win over UNCW and has gone at least seven innings in three straight starts for the first time in his career.
AGAINST THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: UNC built its tournament resume with a tough regular season schedule and owns an 18-9 mark against 11 opponents that reached the 64-team field: Charlotte (2-0), Coastal Carolina (2-1), Elon (0-1), Florida State (2-2), Georgia Tech (2-1), Miami (2-1), Mount St. Mary's (1-0), NC State (1-1), St. John's (2-0), UNC Wilmington (2-0) and Virginia (2-2). The Tar Heels are 7-5 against fellow No. 1 seeds, 4-1 versus No. 2s, 6-3 against No. 3s and 1-0 vs. No. 4s.
