University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 2 Tar Heels Head South To Face No. 20 FSU
April 9, 2009 | Baseball
April 9, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 2 North Carolina hits the road for a second straight weekend to face No. 20 Florida State in a key Atlantic Coast Conference series at Dick Howser Stadium beginning Friday. The Tar Heels (26-7, 9-5 ACC) and Seminoles (19-10, 7-6 ACC) are slated to play at 6 p.m. Friday, 4 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 and Burlington's WBAG (1150 AM).
Saturday's game will be televised on Fox Sports Net South in North Carolina, and a webcast of the Friday and Sunday games will be available live and on-demand via ACC Select.
Winners of seven of its last eight games, Carolina is tied for second nationally with 26 wins this season. The Tar Heels entered 2009 with an NCAA-best 165 wins over the last three seasons. With three wins over top-25 opponents in the last five games, Carolina is now 8-4 with three series victories versus ranked foes this season.
Offensively, five Tar Heel starters are batting better than .302 on the season, with Dustin Ackley (.413) and Kyle Seager (.395) ranked among the top six hitters in the ACC. Ackley and Levi Michael are tied for second in the ACC with 10 home runs each. Carolina is the only team in the league with two players with 10 or more homers.
The UNC pitching staff has totalled an ACC-best 350 strikeouts and is holding the opposition to a .236 average. Ace relievers Brian Moran (2.41 ERA, 33 2/3 innings) and Colin Bates (2.27 ERA, 31 2/3 innings) share the ACC lead with 19 appearances.
Just as they have all season, right-handers Alex White, Adam Warren and Matt Harvey will comprise the weekend rotation for the FSU series.
Florida State is fresh off a 14-6 win over North Florida in Jacksonville Wednesday. The Seminoles are 19-10 on the season and 7-6 in the ACC.
FSU owns a .327 team average with five regulars batting .327 or better. Tyler Holt leads the ACC with a .438 mark, while Mike McGee is the Noles top run producer with 10 homers and 31 RBI.
On the mound, the Seminoles sport a 4.94 staff ERA. Freshman lefties Sean Gilmartin (6-1, 3.27) and Brian Busch (1-1, 3.03) are slated to start the first two games of the series, with the right-handed McGee (2-2, 5.74) scheduled to start Sunday.
The Tar Heels have won three of the last five series against the Seminoles - all at home - but are in search of their first series win in Tallahassee since 1995. UNC took two of three in Cary in 2008. Mike Fox is 13-23 against Florida State - 10-5 at home and 2-13 at FSU - over the past 10 seasons. The Seminoles lead the all-time slate by a 58-25 margin.
Ackley is Carolina's top career performer against FSU, and is a career .481 hitter (13-27) with one home run and five RBI in seven games versus the Seminoles.
The Tar Heel bullpen has enjoyed success against the Seminoles in recent years, as Bates worked 5 2/3 innings in relief in two games a year ago and posted a 3.18 ERA. Moran has tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts over three appearances.
