University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 6 Tar Heels Finish ACC Regular Season Hosting Virginia Tech
May 16, 2018 | Baseball
This weekend, the Tar Heels have the chance to clinch the ACC Coastal Division championship and clinch the overall No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament. Currently, the Tar Heels are tied with Clemson for the overall top seed and have a 1.5 game lead over Duke in the Coastal.Â
All three games can be seen on ACC Network Extra or heard on GoHeels.com.
Promotions
- Thursday- Bark at the Bosh; Dollar Dog Night
- Friday- Kyle Seager Bobblehead Night (first 750 fans)
- Saturday- Senior Day
CHANCE TO CLINCH THE DIVISION
• If the Tar Heels win at least two of three this weekend against Virginia Tech, they will clinch the ACC Coastal Division title.
• This would mark the 7th time that Carolina has won the ACC Coastal Division, with the previous years being 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2017.
• Carolina is tied with Clemson, who is at Pittsburgh this weekend, for the ACC's best record. The team with the highest record at the end of the weekend will win the conference. If the teams are tied, the first tiebreaker – head-to-head – will not apply. The second tiebreaker would be overall record against the team that occupies the next highest winning percentage in the conference.Â
• Carolina, Clemson, NC State and Duke are all still in contention for the ACC regular season title.
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VIRGINIA TECH SERIES
• Under Mike Fox, UNC has never lost a series against VT and are 35-4 overall.
• Last year, Carolina took 2 of 3 at VT and outscored the Hokies 33-12, including a 20-0 finale on Sunday.
• In 2016 at Boshamer, UNC won 2 of 3 (won first two) and outscored the Hokies 13-5.
RILEY CONTINUES TO ROLL
• Brandon Riley went 6-11 in the weekend series against Duke, walking 3 times with 3 RBI
•Through 7 games in the month of May, Riley is 15-26 (.577) with a .645 on-base percentage. Over that stretch, he leads the heels in batting average, OB% and slugging (.615).
• With runners in scoring position in the month of May, he's hitting 5-10 (.500), including 2-2 with the bases loaded.
• Riley has an nine-game hitting streak, the highest of his career. During that time, he's hitting .559. He leads the team in hits (19), total bases (20), slugging percentage (.588), on-base percentage (.634), is tied for first with runs scored (6) and (8).
• The junior has a 18-game reached-base streak, tying his career high.
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Quick Notes
• Michael Busch has reached base in 23 consecutive games. That is good for a new career-high. He passes Ashton McGee (22, 2017) for the highest career reached-base streak among active Carolina players.
• The Tar Heels have one of the best bullpens in the country. This year they are 22-6 with a 2.96 ERA. The starters are 12-10 with a 4.59 ERA.Â
• When the Heels score at least 6 runs on the season, they are 28-0.
• The Heels have a +29 run differential in the first inning (42-13).
• Since starting the year 7-7, UNC has gone 27-10 and 20-7 in its last 26 games.
• UNC can clinch the Coastal Division with a series win over Virginia Tech.
• The Heels also won the Coastal in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2017.
• Carolina has won 16 of its last 19 ACC series dating back to last season.
• Over the last 10 games, Brandon Riley is hitting .528 and leads the team in hits (19), total bases (20), and second in RBI (9).
• Caden O'Brien has 24 appearances as a true freshman, with 22 coming in relief. The last time a true freshman had more relief outings was in 2014 when Spencer Trayner threw in 28 games out of the bullpen.
• Kyle Datres is tied for 7th in the ACC in batting average (.333).
