University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 1 Carolina Hosts Blue Devils At Boshamer
March 19, 2009 | Baseball
March 19, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Riding a season-best eight-game winning streak, No. 1 North Carolina hosts Duke for a key Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series beginning Friday at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels (16-2, 4-1 ACC) and Blue Devils (12-6, 3-3 ACC) are slated to meet at 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. One point towards the Carlyle Cup, the all-sports competition between Carolina and Duke, will go to the winner of the three-game set. The Tar Heels currently holds an 11.5-5.5 lead in the 2008-09 edition of the annual event.
Carolina has won its last seven weekend series with the Blue Devils, and the Tar Heels are 27-5 versus Duke under Mike Fox. UNC won two of three in Durham a year ago and is 8-1 over the last three series played in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels took the 2007 series, 2-1. Carolina holds a 169-92-2 advantage in the all-time series, which dates to 1891.
Paced by five Tar Heel starters batting better than .329 on the season, Carolina features a balanced attack with a .334 team batting average. Kyle Seager, Ben Bunting and Dustin Ackley each batting better than .412, with Seager and Bunting ranking among the ACC's top 10 hitters. Mark Fleury and Levi Michael share the ACC lead with 24 RBI apiece, while Fleury, Ackley and Michael rank among the ACC's top seven in home runs.
Carolina also owns a 2.76 staff ERA and a .966 fielding percentage. The UNC pitching staff has totaled an ACC-best 199 strikeouts for an average of 10.99 per nine innings, and its weekend rotation - Alex White, Adam Warren and Matt Harvey - has combined for a 9-0 record this season and 57 wins in Chapel Hill.
Duke enters the weekend with a 12-6 record after sweeping a doubleheader from Maryland-Eastern Shore Wednesday. The Blue Devils are 3-3 in the ACC and went 1-2 at Miami last weekend. Duke is batting .313 as a team with junior Alex Hassan leading the way with a .452 average. Nate Freiman is the top run producer with six homers and 19 RBI. On the mound the Blue Devils sport a 4.42 staff ERA. Right-hander Andrew Wolcott (3-0, 1.27) and lefty Christopher Manno (1-2, 6.53) are slated to start this weekend.
The Tar Heels have put up some impressive numbers against Duke in recent years. Mark Fleury hit .538 (7-13) with a homer and five RBI in last year's series in Durham, while Garrett Gore owns a .286 average (8-28) with five RBI versus the Blue Devils. He hit .556 (5-9) with five runs scored and three RBI in the 2007 series in Chapel Hill. Saturday's starter, Warren is 2-0 with a 3.75 ERA over 12 innings in two career starts against the Devils.
