University of North Carolina Athletics
Walston: Monday Baseball Notebook
February 22, 2010 | Baseball
Feb. 22, 2010
•Pitching coach Scott Forbes was pleased with his new weekend rotation (Matt Harvey, Patrick Johnson and Colin Bates), but saw room for improvement. "I thought all three of them pitched well," he said. "I think they all three can pitch a lot better."
Johnson and Bates both earned wins, while Harvey had a no-decision on Friday. The junior ace gave up a run in the first inning, but worked out of a bases-loaded jam. "I think Matt getting us out of that inning really set the tone for the whole weekend," Forbes said. "I really thought, `We have to leave him out there to give him every chance to get us out of this.'" Harvey then threw a strikeout, induced an infield fly and a ground ball to shortstop to end the inning.
Bates' seven-inning start Sunday was the longest outing of his career. The junior struck out five and gave up six hits and three earned runs, walking none. He said he enjoyed starting the game with a clean slate, rather than being called in from the bullpen. "I really like being able to set up hitters one at-bat to the next, something you don't really get to do as much of out of the bullpen.
•Right-hander Jimmy Messer pitched in relief in two games, earning a save on Sunday. The sophomore is working back from a broken ankle suffered in the fall. "He's been throwing and keeping in shape, but the kid was throwing long-toss in a boot. That tells you how dedicated he is," Forbes said. "He could easily end up being a huge part of our bullpen and starter, but it's nice to have a little bit of veteran help in the bullpen."
Freshman righty Michael Morin earned the win in extra innings Friday and the save on Saturday. Fellow freshman Chris Munnelly pitched three innings in relief on Friday. "I thought their location was OK, but their competitiveness and their mound presence was outstanding," Forbes said.
Sophomore Garrett Davis will toe the rubber on Tuesday against UNC-Greensboro.
•Two freshmen started in the field for the Tar Heels: Tommy Coyle at second base and Brian Goodwin in right field. The duo were hitless through their first two games, but Goodwin had a triple Sunday, while Coyle tallied a pair of singles.
Goodwin's hit scored two runs and was perhaps the most exciting play of the weekend. His helmet flew off as the freshman barreled toward third base. "So relieved," Goodwin said Sunday. "It felt like it had been forever since I'd been on base.
Mike Fox was relieved, as well. "I didn't want to leave here with some of our young guys going o-fer their first UNC weekend. I didn't want to have to do any psychological stuff with them," the coach said. "It's always just good to get that first hit, and you just kind of go from there. They've got a chance to be really good players."
Coyle took a beating on Friday and Saturday - getting plunked by pitchers three times. The freshman advanced to first three times that way before he had a single base hit. Welcome to college baseball. "The first two, I just couldn't really get out of the way, and the last one was kind of close, but a tight point in the game. I kind of leaned into it a little bit."
•Freshman (and two-sport athlete) Bryn Renner got his first action with two at-bats on Saturday. "It was just a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said. Renner hit into a fielder's choice in his first at-bat (moving two runners over), and flied out to right in his second. "It seemed like it was going in slow motion," he said of his initial at-bat. "Obviously, it was a big time in the game when we needed to put a runner in scoring position. I was just doing that - any way I could get the runner over, that was just getting the ball to the right side, is what I was trying to do." In the stands to watch Renner were fellow quarterback T.J. Yates and offensive coordinator John Shoop.
•Fifth-year senior Mike Cavasinni had three RBI and three runs scored on the weekend, and extended his hitting streak to nine games, dating back to last season.
Turner Walston is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
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