University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 6 Carolina Hosts Gardner-Webb Tuesday
March 7, 2016 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL --- No. 6 North Carolina faces one of the last two remaining undefeated teams in college baseball Tuesday when the Tar Heels host Gardner-Webb at 3 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina has won eight in a row after sweeping Fairfield over the weekend while the Runnin' Bulldogs are off to a program-best 13-0 start. Gardner-Webb took four games from Rider in Boiling Springs last weekend.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 9-1, Gardner-Webb 13-0
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked in each of the national pools, with a high of No. 6 by D1Baseball. Gardner-Webb is unranked.
TV: GoHeelsTV.
On The Web: GoHeels.com • Twitter: @DiamondHeels
| Carolina Probable Starter | Gardner-Webb Probable Starter | |
| Wednesday | RHP Cole Aker (Fr., 2-1, 1.93 ERA, 3.00 WHIP) |
RHP Andrew Massey (RSo., 2-0, 1.38 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) |
NORTH CAROLINA-GARDNER-WEBB SERIES HISTORY
• North Carolina is 12-1 all-time against Gardner-Webb, including a 6-1 win in Chapel Hill last season.
• In 2014, the Tar Heels were 7-1 winners in Chapel Hill in March before claiming a 7-2 victory in Shelby, North Carolina, in May. That was the only game in the series to be played outside of Boshamer Stadium.
• Carolina and GWU met for the first time in 2004 and have played once in every season since then. GWU's lone win over Carolina came in 2012, a 7-4 decision.
NOTING THE FAIRFIELD SWEEP
• Carolina improved to 9-1 on the year with a three-game sweep of Fairfield, the team's second sweep of the season. That matches the sweep total from 2015, when the Tar Heels' only 3-0 series came against Seton Hall and Boston College.
• Friday night's 4-3 win in 13 innings was the longest UNC game since the Tar Heels played 16 innings at Miami in 2014.
• The Friday win was also noteworthy as a comeback victory. Carolina was 0-18 when trailing after eight innings in 2015, but the Tar Heels are now 2-0 in that situation in 2016. UNC entered the ninth inning of the Sunday game against Oklahoma State down 3-2 before scoring two in the bottom half to win.
STARTING FAST UNDER FOX
• Carolina is 9-1 in its first 10 games, a fast start that has been a trend under 18th-year head coach Mike Fox. In Fox's time at the helm, UNC has started either 9-1 or 10-0 on nine occasions, including a school-record 21-0 start in 2000.
• Most recently, the 2013 team started 16-0 en route to a school-record 59 wins.
