University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Diamond Heels Notebook
April 30, 2009 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
April 30, 2009
By Adam Lucas
One of this season's great statistical mysteries is how Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager can hit next to each other in the Tar Heel batting order, but Seager has almost 50% more at-bats with runners in scoring position than Ackley.
Part of the answer can be found in Ackley's walks. His 35 bases on balls lead the team and rank fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Teams are being especially careful pitching to him with runners on base. Of those 35 walks, nearly half (16) have come with runners in scoring position.
Planting seeds: The hunt for a plum national seed depends not only on picking up victories, but on picking up victories against quality opposition. According to BoydsWorld.com, the average winning percentage of Carolina's remaining opponents is .561. Among teams also in the hunt for a national seed, that's higher than the opponent winning percentage of UC Irvine (.422), Rice (.481), Arizona State (.526), Texas (.527); but lower than that of Cal State Fullerton (.565), LSU (.626), Georgia (.641) or Arkansas (.698).
Both ACC and SEC teams should also benefit in the RPI from the conference tournaments, as those events should provide multiple games against RPI-boosting opponents.
Driving the Drive: Tim Federowicz participated in Tuesday's Rams Club Tar Heel Tour event in Greenville, S.C. Federowicz is currently the starting catcher for the Greenville Drive, the A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
"Being a Tar Heel to me means the total package," Federowicz said. "It means we won a lot on the field but there is so much else that goes along with it. I had a great time on and off the field and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Now, when I meet guys from other schools, their first reaction is, `Wow, you played at Carolina.' It's a big deal to be part of Carolina Baseball."
Federowicz is rooming with--among others--Casey Kelly, a two-sport star who briefly considered Carolina out of high school.
Michael's resurgence: Levi Michael appears to have recovered from an early April slump. After batting just 3-for-29 (.103) in the first eight games of the month, the freshman is 15-for-36 (417) since then, including a 7-for-12 performance against Maryland that saw him stinging the ball to all fields.
"It was mostly between his ears," Carolina head coach Mike Fox said. "You start pressing and doing things differently when you're not getting hits, and then your mechanics get out of whack. His teammates talked to him and told him slumps happen at this level, and you have to get out of it. He's back to where he was earlier in the year."
Senior day: If you're wondering who the fourth senior was introduced during Sunday's Senior Day festivities, it was head manager Tyson Lusk. A subject of a previous Tar Heel Monthly Unheralded Heels column, Lusk has made himself indispensable to Carolina baseball over the past four years. "Calling him our head student manager doesn't do him justice," said UNC head coach Mike Fox. Lusk didn't know he was being honored until minutes before gametime.
Another surprise part of the ceremony was a presentation by the three senior players--Garrett Gore, Adam Warren and Mike McKee--to Fox. They gave him a framed photo of the three seniors each wearing their three College World Series rings.
Briefly: Carolina's six-game ACC winning streak is the team's longest of the season and the longest since a seven-game streak midway through last season...Colin Bates has not allowed an earned run in his last three appearances (9.1 IP)...Brian Moran has walked just one hitter in his last five appearances while striking out 12 (9.1 IP)...Carolina's 24 triples this season are tied for the single-season school record...The Saturday win over Maryland was just the third ACC game this season in which Bates and Moran were both available but neither were used...In just about every recent NCAA tournament projection, Elon has been one of the three schools assigned to the Chapel Hill regional. The Phoenix come to Boshamer Stadium on Tuesday (tickets are available online) for what should be a great game; Elon already holds wins over Auburn, Wake Forest, NC State, ECU and Duke. A quirk in the schedule means the Tar Heels get a day off after the Elon game before hosting Longwood in a rescheduled game on Thursday and then heading to NC State Friday-Sunday.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
