University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Look For Fifth Straight ACC Series Win
April 14, 2011 | Baseball
April 14, 2011
Carolina takes to the road once again this weekend as the Tar Heels head to Raleigh to take on NC State in a three-game series at Dail Park. The Tar Heels have rattled off three straight wins, including a series win at Florida State a week ago for the first time since 1995. Carolina is looking for its fifth straight ACC series win for the first time since the 2008 squad won six straight series to close the year. The Tar Heels reached the 30-win plateau on Tuesday joining the 1983 team as the fastest to reach the mark in school history.
National Rankings
• Following the big weekend series win at Florida State the Tar Heels jumped into the top 10 in every poll this week.
• Carolina tops out at No. 5 in both the USA Today/Coaches Poll and the Perfect Game Top 25.
• The Tar Heels are ranked sixth in the country by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper as well as the National College Baseball Writers Association poll.
• Baseball America moved the Tar Heels from No. 16 to No. 7 this week the biggest jump in any poll for UNC.
• NC State is unranked.
North Carolina-NC State Series
• The Tar Heels and Wolfpack have met 274 previous times with Carolina holding a 151-122-1 advantage in those meetings.
• Carolina holds a narrow 55-54 advantage over NC State in Raleigh. The Tar Heels are 2-4 in series against the Wolfpack under head coach Mike Fox, who owns an 8-10 record in Raleigh.
• The Tar Heels took two of three from the Wolfpack a year ago as the teams combined for 56 runs. UNC took the Friday and Sunday games 14-7 and 9-6.
Scouting The Wolfpack
• NC State comes into the weekend series on a four-game losing streak after dropping an ACC series at Miami last weekend and a midweek tilt at home to UNC Wilmington on Wednesday.
• The Wolfpack enter play Friday with an 18-16 overall mark, including a 5-10 ACC record.
• If one team in the country has seen a big impact with the new bats it is NC State as the Wolfpack racked fourth in the country in runs at this point a year ago and currently check in at 144th.
• Pratt Maynard leads the Wolfpack at the plate with a .336 average on the year and has driven in a team-high 25 runs.
• Andrew Clencin is hitting .255 but has scored the most runs for NC State with 28 through 34 games.
• Cory Mazzoni will get the Friday night start for the Wolfpack as he owns a 2-4 record to go along with a 4.0 ERA. Mazzoni was named the ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 28 for his complete game shutout of Clemson.
• Grant Sasser will make his second start of the year on Saturday and owns a 1.29 ERA in 21 innings and has a 1-2 record.
Tar Heels Take Advantage of Pirate Miscues
• North Carolina improved to 9-1 in midweek contests on Tuesday when the Tar Heels claimed a 5-3 win over East Carolina at Boshamer Stadium.
• The Pirates committed five errors on the evening resulting in four unearned runs for the Tar Heels.
• Sophomore Michael Morin picked up the win throwing 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball as he threw for the fifth consecutive game.
• Levi Michael paced the offense with a 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
• Colin Moran tallied his 15th career multi hit game with a 2-for-4 performance.
Recapping The Week That Was (April 4-10):
• North Carolina turned into streak busters this week as the Tar Heels went 3-1 and captured their first series at Florida State since 1995 and snapped FSU's streak of 25 straight wins on Sunday. As a result the Tar Heels jumped in every poll released on Monday and are among the top 10 in nearly every poll and top out at No. 5 in both the Perfect Game and USA Today/Coaches Polls.
• Carolina opened with a 12-6 win over Winthrop before making the trek South to face off against the No. 6 Seminoles.
• Colin Moran put the Tar Heels in front in the top of the eighth inning Friday night when he blasted his sixth home run of the year to put Carolina in front 3-2. The bullpen was unable to hang on to the lead as the Seminoles claimed the series opener 5-3.
• The Tar Heels battled back to even the series with an 8-5 win on Saturday as they used a three-run second and four-run fifth and the bullpen kept the home team off the scoreboard over the final five innings to preserve the lead and the win.
• Another stellar performance by the bullpen on Sunday gave Carolina the series win with a 7-6 victory. The Tar Heels used the big inning to their advantage once again as they erupted for seven runs on seven hits in the third and were able to hang on for the win.
• The Tar Heels now open up a stretch of four straight games against instate competition as they host East Carolina Tuesday at 6 p.m. followed by a three-game set at NC State Friday through Sunday.• Colin Moran continued his assault on ACC pitching as he was 7-for-13 with three runs and five RBI to go along with a double and a home run.
• The Tar Heels also received a good performance from lead off man Ben Bunting who went 5-for-14 and also drew a walk to reach base six times on the weekend.
• Friday night starter Patrick Johnson was the lone Carolina starter to reach the fifth inning as he struck out 10 batters for the second straight start going 6.2 innings allowing just two runs in a no decision.
• The bullpen stepped up on Saturday and Sunday keeping the Tar Heels in control of both games as the bullpen accounted for 5.2 innings on Saturday followed by a full 9 innings on Sunday.
• After starting the year in the weekend rotation Michael Morin has made the move to the bullpen in recent weeks and appeared three times this weekend notching saves on Saturday and Sunday. Morin's Sunday outing was three scoreless innings that kept a hold on a narrow 7-6 lead.
Tar Heels Reach 30-Win Plateau
• With the 5-3 win over East Carolina on Tuesday Carolina reached 30 wins for the 14th straight year and in the process equaled the fastest start in school history.
• The 1983 squad also went 30-5 in their first 35 games to open the year and finished with a 42-10 record.
• Carolina's .853 winning percentage entering the week ranked third in the country, behind only Virginia (.912, 31-3) and Vanderbilt (.909, 30-3).
Tar Heels Have Shot At Best ACC Start
• Carolina enters the weekend with a 12-3 conference mark after being 6-9 after five conference series in 2010.
• If the Tar Heels pull off the rare sweep in Raleigh, something that has not happened since the ACC went to a three-game set in 1990, Carolina would reach the 15-win conference mark.
• With a sweep the Tar Heels would be the fastest team to reach 15 conference wins in school history. The 1990 team needed 19 games to reach the 15-win mark.
Moran On Pace For RBI Record
• Freshman Colin Moran has made quite a first impression for the Tar Heels this year as he has tallied 48 RBI an average of 1.37 per contest.
• If Moran drives in two runs against the Wolfpack on Friday he will equal the quickest Tar Heel to reach 50 RBI in school history.
Fastest to 50 RBI In A Season
36 games - Scott Johnson (1985), 81 RBI
37 games - Marshall Hubbard (2004), 83 RBI
- Kyle Seager (2008), 75 RBI
40 games - Dustin Ackley (2007), 74 RBI
42 games - Chris Maples (2002), 79 RBI
- Chris Iannetta (2004), 71 RBI
- Tyrell Godwin (2000), 67 RBI
- Jeremy Cleveland (2003), 65 RBI
- Ryan Earey (1999), 63 RBI
Moran On A Hot Streak
• Freshman Colin Moran is one of the hottest hitters in the country over the last 15 games as he has helped the Tar Heels to a 13-2 stretch.
• Moran is hitting .400 (24-60) over the stretch with 13 runs scored, nine extra base hits including five home runs and 26 RBI. The 26 RBI is 15 more than the next closest Tar Heel during the run.
• The Rye, N.Y., product is slugging a ridiculous .733 and has an OPS of 1.211.
Defense At The Head Of The Class
• Carolina is on pace to break the school record for fielding percentage in a season as the Tar Heels own a .982 mark entering the weekend.
• The Tar Heels entered the week second in the conference and fourth in the country committing just 23 errors in 1,292 chances.
• The school record for fielding percentage in a season is .974 held by the 2007 squad.
• The Tar Heels have posted fielding percentages of at least .970 in the last four seasons.
Tar Heels One Selective Group
• Entering the week Carolina had drawn 191 walks on the year which ranks fourth in the country and has helped the Tar Heels to nearly 8 runs per game on the year.
• The trio of Colin Moran, Jacob Stallings and Levi Michael have all drawn at least 27 walks on the year, with Michael and Stallings leading the way with 28.
• The free passes have helped the Tar Heels to a .402 team on-base percentage so far this season.
Put It In The Book
• Entering the sixth inning with a lead this year the Tar Heels have yet to let a lead slip away posting a perfect 26-0 record through 35 games.
• The bullpen has been the key cog to the late inning success allowing just 27 runs over the final three frames this season.
• The offense has done its part scoring 78 runs over the final three innings, including the ninth that the Tar Heels have not had to bat in 19 times.
• The bullpen has posted a 3.28 ERA on the year over 137.1 innings.
• Michael Morin has been impressive in a relief role this season notching a pair of wins and two saves all within the last three weeks.
• The mainstays in the bullpen have been Greg Holt (6-0, 2 saves, 2.90 ERA) and Cody Penny (1-0, 5 saves, 4.72 ERA), in addition to left-hander R.C. Orlan (0-0, 5.87 ERA) and Tate Parrish (0-0, 2.79 ERA).
• Freshman Shane Taylor stepped up and delivered a career-long 4.0 innings of scoreless relief against Florida State (4/9) to earn his second win of the year.
Top Of The Order Causing Trouble
• The trio of Ben Bunting, Levi Michael and Tommy Coyle has helped Carolina to one of the most productive offensive seasons in school history as the top three hitters in the lineup have combined to cross the plate 106 times this season.
• Coyle has scored 38 runs this season to rank 12th in the nation, while Bunting is just one behind with 37 and Michael is not far behind with 31 on the season.
• But it's what the three do once they get on that is the most dangerous part having combined for 37 stolen bases in 44 attempts. Coyle leads the way with 14 steals, Michael has a dozen and Bunting 11 of his own.
• The trio have been responsible for the majority of Carolina's biggest offensive outputs as the Tar Heels have reached the 10-run plateau on 13 different occasions this year.
Something To Think About
• Jacob Stallings has put a fear into potential base stealers all year long but opponents continue to test the junior backstop.
• Stallings has thrown out 18 base runners in just half a season and currently ranks 6th in single season annals.
• The Brentwood, Tenn., native needs just seven more caught stealings to break Chris Iannetta's single season mark of 24 set in 2004.
Most Caught Stealings By In A Season
24 - Chris Iannetta (2004)
23 - Dan Moylan (1998)
21 - Dan Moylan (1999)
20 - Dan Moylan (2000)
19 - Justin Webb (2004)
18 - Jacob Stallings (2011)
