University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Baseball Weekly Notebook
May 17, 2009 | Baseball
May 17, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina wrapped up its third Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division title with a series win at Boston College over the weekend. The Tar Heels will now turn their attention to the annual conference tourney, which opens Wednesday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. UNC will face Clemson, Duke and Virginia in the round-robin event. The league will announce the full schedule Sunday by 5 p.m.
NOTING THE WEEK OF MAY 11-17:
• North Carolina clinched its third ACC Coastal Division title in the last four seasons Saturday by closing out a series win over Boston College. The Tar Heels have won a league-best 84 games in conference play over the past four years.
• Carolina is the No. 2 seed for next week's ACC Baseball Championship in Durham. The Tar Heels will face Clemson, Duke and Virginia in the round-robin event.
• After their bats had struggled in recent weeks, Carolina broke out with 24 runs and 31 base hits over the final two games of the Boston College series - 16-10 and 8-1 wins for the Tar Heels.
• Carolina had a balanced offensive attack in the Boston College series, as no player drove in more than four runs but six different Tar Heels posted at least three RBI in the series. Garrett Gore hit a team-best .500 (7-14) in the series with three straight multi-hit games. Six regulars hit better than .357 on the weekend.
• Right-hander Matt Harvey allowed just one run over a career-best 8 2/3 innings to lead North Carolina past Boston College Saturday for a win that helped lock up the ACC's Coastal Division for the Tar Heels. A Connecticut native, Harvey turned in his finest performance of the season in his return to New England, carrying a shutout into the ninth inning. He struck out eight and scattered seven hits and four walks. Harvey, who struck out the side in the fourth, faced just three over the minimum through five innings. He ran into trouble in the sixth when the Eagles loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, but Harvey buckled down to force a ground ball to preserve the shutout until a pair of pinch-hit doubles led to Boston College's lone run in the ninth. The victory improved Harvey to 6-2 in his sophomore season.
• Garrett Gore led Carolina with a .471 average (8-17) last week with two doubles and two runs scored. Dustin Ackley (.444) and Kyle Seager (.438) both hit above .400, while Ben Bunting, who was 6-for-16 with four runs and two RBI, and Ryan Graepel, who was 6-for-17 with two runs and four RBI, also had big weeks. Graepel made his first start in the leadoff spot in Saturday's regular season finale.
• All-Americas Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager fueled the 16-10 route on Friday with four hits and four runs each. Seager tied career highs with both totals, while Ackley recorded his 14th career game with four or more hits and tied his career high in runs. Ackley also drove in four and hit his 17th home run in the win.
• Dustin Ackley has hit safely in nine straight games and owns a .500 average (19-38) with 16 RBI, four home runs and four doubles over this season-best streak. He has also posted six multi-hit games over this stretch and now has 101 games with two-plus hits for his career. Ackley recorded his 100th career multi-hit game at Charlotte Tuesday.
• Dustin Ackley ended the regular season among the ACC's top three in eight different categories. He currently leads the league in hits with 87 and is second with a .405 average and 17 home runs. Ackley continued his assault on Carolina's career records in hits and runs and currently has 322 career hits (needs seven for record) and 216 runs (needs five for record).
• After logging six hits over the final two games of the Boston College series, Kyle Seager boosted his batting average to .390 to stand fifth in the ACC. With Dustin Ackley and Seager, the Tar Heels are the only team with to players in the top five in the league in hitting. In conference play, Seager batted .417 to rank third in the ACC.
• Brian Moran continued his outstanding season by going 2-0 with 10 strikeouts and just one run allowed over six innings this week. Moran, who has earned a win in four of his last seven outings, posted four strikeouts in three innings out of the bullpen in Friday's victory at Boston College. He retired the first eight batters he faced and set down 17 straight in over two appearances this week before running into trouble in the sixth. He allowed one run to snap a string of 14 2/3 scoreless innings.
• Brian Moran ends the regular season as the ACC leader in ERA at 1.91, opponent batting average at .176 and appearances with 30. He is sixth in the league with 77 strikeouts to just four walks and is tied for third with seven wins. Moran, who also leads the league with a 2.59 ERA in league action, is 7-1 with three saves on the season.
• Patrick Johnson earned his first career save by working the final 2 1/3 innings in the Friday win at Boston College. He is the eighth different Tar Heel to record a save this season.
