University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 1 Tar Heels Host Terps In Final Home Series
April 23, 2009 | Baseball
April 23, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 1 North Carolina hosts Maryland in its final regular season home series beginning Friday at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels (32-11, 13-7 ACC) and Terrapins (20-21, 6-15 ACC) are slated to play at 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
All three games will be carried by the Tar Heels Sports Network with Jones Angell and Adam Lucas on the call on AM-1360 WCHL in Chapel Hill, Raleigh's 850 The Buzz, Burlington's WBAG (1150 AM) and TarHeelBlue.com.
Carolina's three seniors - Garrett Gore, Mike McKee and Adam Warren - will be honored before Sunday's series finale. This senior class has accounted for 197 wins over the past four seasons, just nine shy of last year's class, which set a UNC record with 206 wins over a four-year period. This class has never finished a season outside of Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium, has posted three top-three CWS finishes and won the 2007 ACC title.
Maryland makes its first appearance in Chapel Hill since 2006 after the Tar Heels took two straight series in College Park in 2007 and 2008 by winning five of six. Carolina has won its last seven series versus the Terps since dropping two of three in College Park in 2001. The Tar Heels last lost a home set to Maryland in 1996. Mike Fox is 25-7 in his career against the Terps, including a 10-2 mark at home.
Carolina is tied for the national lead with Georgia and Virginia with 32 wins this season. The Tar Heels entered 2009 with an NCAA-best 165 wins over the last three seasons.
Four Tar Heel starters are batting better than .327 on the season, with Kyle Seager (.402) and Dustin Ackley (.392) ranked among the top five hitters in the ACC. Seager (68) and Ackley (65) own the No. 1 and No. 3 hit totals in the league. UNC's balanced offensive attack features seven regulars with at least 27 RBI, including four players that have driven in at least 37 runs.
Ackley is a .462 (12-26) career hitter with six RBI in six games at Maryland over 2007-08, and Seager has hit .429 (9-21) with three RBI in six career games with the Terps.
Carolina's weekend rotation is a combined 3-1 against Maryland. Both Matt Harvey and Adam Warren posted wins last season after allowing just one run over six innings.
The UNC pitching staff has totalled an NCAA-best 438 strikeouts - 50 more than any team in the ACC - and is holding the opposition to a .237 average. The Tar Heels' weekend rotation of Alex White, Warren and Harvey has combined to win 63 games in Carolina Blue. Both White and Warren rank among the top 10 in school history in wins.
Ace reliever Colin Bates (2.79 ERA, 38 2/3 innings) tops the ACC and is tied for fifth nationally with 24 appearances.
Maryland enters the weekend with a 20-21 record and a 6-15 mark in the ACC. The Terps have won five of six and took two of three from Duke last weekend in College Park. Paced by A.J. Casario (.335-8-34) and Mike Murphy (.324-9-35), Maryland owns a .277 team average with 35 home runs and 33 steals.
The Terrapins own a 5.61 staff ERA. Reliever Dan Gentzler sports a 3.45 mark and is 2-2 over a team-high 20 appearances. The weekend rotation will be right-hander Scott Swinson (3-5, 5.20), lefty Matt Fullerton (5-3, 5.77) and righty Brett Hartman (3-4, 6.36).
