University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Baseball Monday Notebook
April 13, 2009 | Baseball
April 13, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After spending its last two weekends in two of the most hostile environments in the Atlantic Coast Conference, North Carolina will play 11 of its next 12 games at Boshamer Stadium, beginning this week with midweek outings against High Point and Winthrop. The Tar Heels (27-9) will host the Panthers (13-17) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a 6 p.m. Wednesday meeting with the Eagles (23-11).
Carolina will look to rebound from a series loss at No. 20 Florida State that featured a pair of walk-off wins for the Seminoles. The Tar Heels carried the lead into the bottom of the ninth in both losses but were unable to secure their first series win in Tallahassee since 1995.
Third baseman Kyle Seager, who hit .550 with 10 RBI last week, leads Carolina and is third in the ACC with a .404 average and tops the conference with 18 doubles. He is joined by Dustin Ackley, who is batting .391 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI, among the top seven hitters in the league.
UNC leads its all-time series with High Point by a 15-2-1 margin, including a 10-5 win in Cary last season. The Panthers split two games with Charleston Southern last weekend and face another ACC foe in Virginia Tech Wednesday. Billy Alvino is High Point's top hitter with a .427 average.
The Tar Heels are 11-3 all-time against Winthrop, including 6-1 and 4-1 wins a year ago. The Eagles swept a three-game series from Presbyterian over the weekend and split a doubleheader at Georgia last week. Eddie Tisdale leads Winthrop's regulars with a .399 average.
Before closing the book's on last week's action, TarHeelBlue.com takes a look back at the week that was for the Diamond Heels:
NOTING THE WEEK OF APRIL 6-12:
• No. 20 Florida State scored walk-off wins Friday and Sunday to deny No. 2 North Carolina its first series win in Tallahassee since 1995. The series loss was the just the second for the Tar Heels in their last 22 chances dating to their last series loss at Dick Howser Stadium April 20-22, 2007.
• Third baseman Kyle Seager hit a team-best .550 (11-20) with three doubles, a home run and 10 RBI to lead the Tar Heels at the plate last week. Against No. 20 FSU, Seager was 6-for-12 with two doubles, his first career grand slam and five RBI. He was 3-for-5 with a double and the grand slam in Sunday's finale and posted multi-hit games in four of the five outings this week, including a second three-hit effort Wednesday against Richmond. He was also 2-for-3 against No. 14 East Carolina Tuesday and his two RBI were the difference in a 3-1 win. Seager, who is on a seven-game hitting streak, leads the Tar Heels and is third in the ACC with a .404 average, and his 18 doubles lead the league. He moved past Tim Federowicz and into fifth on Carolina's career doubles list with 58.
• Right-hander Patrick Johnson made two starts on the week and allowed just one run over 11 innings, while striking out 17. On Tuesday, Johnson was masterful in carrying a no-hitter into the seventh against No. 14 ECU, which entered the night eighth nationally with a .361 team average. Over a career-best 6 1/3 innings, the Conover, N.C., native struck out a career-high 11, walked three and allowed just one base hit in the seventh. He retired six of the final seven batters he faced via the strikeout and fanned two or more in four separate frames. In his first career ACC start Sunday in Tallahassee, Johnson held FSU to just one run on six hits and two walks and struck out six over 4 2/3 in a predetermined staff outing. He posted a 0.82 ERA for the week and lowered his season mark to an ACC-best 2.15 over 37 2/3 innings. Johnson is second on the team and ninth in the ACC with 50 strikeouts and owns a .205 opponent average to rank third in the league. As a starter, Johnson is 2-0 with a 0.43 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 21 innings. He has allowed only one earned run and nine hits in four starts.
• Center fielder Mike Cavasinni hit .500 (5-10) in the FSU series and added five runs and four RBI, including a career high three in Saturday's win. He hit .333 (6-18) with five RBI for the week and has raised his season average to .260 with 23 runs, 15 RBI and six steals after a slow start.
• First baseman Dustin Ackley connected on his career-best 11th home run Sunday. He went just 2-for-12 against Florida State but is batting .391 with 20 extra-base hits, 42 runs and 31 RBI. With two hits over the weekend, Ackley moved into third on the Tar Heels' career hit list with 289 and needs just three more to move past Chad Prosser into second. He needs 40 more base hits to move past Chad Flack and set a new school record.
• Freshman catcher Jacob Stallings excelled in his first ACC start by going 2-for-5 with two runs at Florida State Saturday. He was also 1-for-2 with two walks earlier in the week against Richmond and hit .429 (3-7) on the week.
• Right-hander Adam Warren allowed three runs on three hits in the first inning Saturday against Florida State but settled down from there and gave up just one hit the rest of the way. Over 6 1/3, the New Bern native held the Seminoles to just the three runs on four hits and a career high-tying five walks, while striking out six. Warren's first win since March 15 was the 26th victory of his career, which is good for a tie for fifth in school history. He is 4-2 with a 3.19 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 48 innings this season.
• Right-hander Alex White suffered a tough-luck loss to No. 20 Florida State Friday after working a season-best 8 1/3 innings and matching a season high with nine strikeouts. He held the Seminoles to just two hits until the ninth and finished with three runs allowed on five hits and four walks. The Greensville, N.C., product went seven-plus innings for the fourth straight start and fanned at least eight for the fifth consecutive game. White, who is 5-1 with a 3.67 ERA and team bests of 62 strikeouts and 54 innings, moved past Scott Bankhead and into eighth place on the Tar Heels' career strikeout list with 258. White is third in the ACC in both strikeouts and innings and is tied for second in wins.
• Right-hander Jimmy Messer picked up his first win with career bests of seven strikeouts and 5 1/3 innings against Richmond. He held the Spiders scoreless on just two hits over the first five innings. In the sixth, Messer was charged with six runs, just three of which were earned, and finished with five hits and two walks allowed on the night.
• Carolina pitchers issued 13 walks - or 8.7 percent of its season total - in Sunday's loss at Florida State. The 13 walks equaled the most by a Mike Fox coached team, matching an 11-inning, 2002 ACC Tournament loss to Wake Forest.
