University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Baseball Monday Notebook
May 11, 2009 | Baseball
May 11, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Following just its third weekend series loss in the last two seasons, fourth-ranked North Carolina looks to get back on track Tuesday at Charlotte when the Tar Heels (38-13) and 49ers (30-18) face off at 6 p.m. at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium.
Jones Angell and Adam Lucas will have the call of the game for the Tar Heel Sports Network on AM-1360 WCHL in Chapel Hill and TarHeelBlue.com.
Charlotte posted a 2-1 win over Carolina in Chapel Hill March 25 to claim their first win in the series since Mike Fox rejoined the Tar Heel program in 1999. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series by a 28-6-1 margin and are 14-1 versus the 49ers under Fox.
Ryan Rivers connected on a pair of solo home runs to pace Charlotte in the earlier meeting. Tarron Robinson provided the lone offense for the Tar Heels with his first career home run.
Charlotte starter Patrick Lawson fanned seven over 5 1/3 innings and held UNC to just one run on three hits and a walk. He faced the minimum through five, and Sam Pierce held the Tar Heels hitless over the final three fames to earn his third save for the 49ers.
In his first career start, Carolina right-hander Ryan Leach allowed one run on three hits and a walk over two-plus innings. The Tar Heels staff allowed just six hits on the afternoon, as Brian Moran, Patrick Johnson and Colin Bates posted solid relief outings.
After the trip to Charlotte, Carolina wraps up the regular season with a three-game series at Boston College beginning Thursday.
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 MAY 4-10:
• The Tar Heels struggled at the plate last week to the tune of a .239 team average, including a .220 mark in the series loss to NC State. Dustin Ackley (.550) and Ben Bunting (.307) were the only players with more than three at-bats to hit above .300 in the 3-2 week. In the State series, the Tar Heels left 29 men on base and struck out 28 times.
• All-America Dustin Ackley hit .550 (11-20) with team highs of 11 hits, three home runs and 10 RBI in five games for the Diamond Heels last week. Six of his 11 hits went for extra bases, as the Walnut Cove, N.C., product slugged 1.200 for the week. In a series where offense was at a premium, Ackley went 5-for-11 with three runs, three RBI, a double, a triple and a home run at NC State. After going 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs in a win over No. 28 Elon Tuesday, Ackley was 3-for-5 with four RBI and his sixth career multi-homer game in Wednesday's win over Longwood. He secured the win over the Lancers with a 12th-inning walk-off solo home run. After getting two hits Friday against State, Ackley was 2-for-4 with three RBI Sunday against the Wolfpack to finish the week with four multi-hit games in five chances. He also played a flawless center field in the final two games of the State series. Ackley now has 16 home runs for the most long balls by a Tar Heel since 2004 and is batting .401 with 50 RBI and 60 runs.
• Kyle Seager led the Tar Heels a .769 on-base percentage in the series in Raleigh. He was just 3-for-6 at the plate but walked five times and was hit twice. Seager had a big day in the finale Sunday with three hits, including his 22nd double and fourth home run. Seager is sixth in the ACC with a .386 average, leads the league in doubles and is tied for second with 76 hits. His .412 average in league play ranks third.
• With his 22 doubles this season, Kyle Seager is tied for fifth on Carolina's single-season list. After setting the school record with 30 a year ago, Seager is third on the career list with 62.
• With Mike Cavasinni missing three games with a concussion over weekend, Dustin Ackley made two starts in center field. The Tar Heels usual first baseman was flawless defensively and made a diving stop in the Tar Heels' Saturday win.
• With his big week at the plate, Ackley continued to solidify his spot as the ACC's top player and is ranked among the league's top three in nine different offensive categories. One of three players batting above .400 at .401, he leads the league in hits with 79 and total bases with 147, is tied for second with 16 home runs and with four triples, stands second in on-base percentage (.510) and ranks third in runs (60), walks (41) and slugging percentage (.746).
• With 11 hits and seven runs last week, Ackley continued his run towards the Tar Heels career records in both categories. With 314 career hits, he needs 15 more to surpass Chad Flack's 328. He also has 212 career runs and needs only eight more to move past Jarrett Shearin's 219. Carolina's leading career hitter with a .407 mark, Ackley is also sixth in doubles (53), tied for fourth in triples (11), 11th in home runs (33), fifth in extra-base hits (97), tied for eighth in RBI (175), fourth in total bases (488) and tied for fourth in walks (124).
• Ackley's triple in Saturday's win over NC State was the 25th of the season for Carolina, which is already a single-season school record. The Tar Heels set the previous record of 24 in 1948 and matched it last season. Ackley is one of three players with four three-baggers on the season.
• Left-hander Brian Moran hurled 7 2/3 shutout innings over four appearances last week and earned a win and a save. He allowed just two hits, did not issue a walk and struck out eight to run his amazing strikeout-to-walk total to 67-to-4. Moran, who is one-third of an inning away from qualifying for the ACC leader board, would lead the league in both ERA and opponent batting average with enough innings to qualify. He sports a 1.95 ERA and a .175 opponent average over 50 2 /3 innings. After earning the win with 2 2/3 scoreless against Elon and saving Saturday's win over NC State with 3 2/3 hitless frames, Moran is 5-1 with three saves on the year.
• Right-hander Colin Bates continued his strong work out of the pen as well with just one earned run in six innings last week. He struck out eight and walked just one. With 51 1/3 innings pitched, Bates is ranked among the ACC pitching leaders this week and is second in the conference with a 2.45 ERA and eighth with a .235 opponent batting average. On the season, Bates owns six saves and is 3-2 with 52 strikeouts to just 15 walks.
• Right-hander Adam Warren allowed two runs in the first to NC State but kept the Pack of the scoreboard for the next 4 1/3 innings to improve to 6-2 on the season Saturday. The win marked the third time in the last four starts that Warren gave up at least two runs in the first but kept the opposition off the scoreboard for the rest of his outing. Warren, who is sixth in the ACC with a 3.21 ERA this season, is now tied for third in school history with 28 wins and is second in winning percentage at .875.
• Warren, undergraduate assistant coach Chad Flack and head student manager Tyson Lusk all participated in this weekend's commencement ceremony in Chapel Hill.
