University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 1 Tar Heels Open Road Slate In Blacksburg
March 12, 2009 | Baseball
March 12, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Winners of four straight, No. 1 North Carolina takes to the road for the first time in 2009 when it travels to Virginia Tech for a three-game series beginning Friday at English Field. The Tar Heels (11-2, 2-1 ACC) and Hokies (10-4, 1-2 ACC) will square off at 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Tar Heels have won four straight the Hokies and are 9-1 since Virginia Tech joined the ACC prior to the 2005 season. Carolina is 3-1 in Blacksburg over this stretch and took two of three in its last trip there in 2007. The Tar Heels hold a 48-23-2 lead in the all-time series, which dates to 1907.
Five Tar Heel starters are batting better than .333 on the season, with Kyle Seager and Ben Bunting batting above the .429 mark. Seager leads Carolina with a .472 season average, while Bunting is hitting .481 over the last six game since moving into the leadoff spot.
Paced by a weekend rotation that did not allow an earned run against Virginia Tech a year ago, the UNC pitching staff has totalled an NCAA-best 161 strikeouts for an average of 11.4 per nine innings. The scheduled starting rotation of Alex White, Adam Warren and Matt Harvey has combined to win 55 games in Carolina Blue.
Virginia Tech is 10-4 after splitting midweek outings with Bryant and Radford. The Hokies dropped two of three at Duke last weekend to open ACC play. The Hokies are off to a fast start at the plate with a .327 average, paced by Steve Domecus (.429-3-19), Ty Hohman (.339-1-18) and Anthony Sosnoskie (.327-4-13). On the mound Virginia Tech owns a solid 3.34 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 124 innings. The weekend rotation will consist of RHP Rhett Ballard (3-0, 2.60), LHP Justin Wright (1-0, 5.52) and RHP Mathew Price (1-1, 3.75).
The Tar Heels have put up some impressive numbers in recent years versus the Hokies, led by Seager, who sports a .476 average (10-21) with seven RBI in six games against Virginia Tech. He went 6-for-9 in Blacksburg in 2007. Dustin Ackley is a career .423 hitter (11-29) in six career game against the Hokies. He hit two home runs and drove in five in Blacksburg in 2007. In eight games vs. the Hokies, Garrett Gore owns a .348 average (8-23) with six RBI.
