No. 3 Tar Heels Host Richmond, Travel To No. 19 Coastal Carolina
May 7, 2018 | Baseball
Carolina will host Richmond on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET before traveling to Conway, S.C. to take on No. 19 Coastal Carolina on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET. Tuesday's matchup at Boshamer Stadium can be seen on ACC Network Extra and both midweek games can be heard on GoHeels.com.Â
With just nine regular season games left, the Tar Heels are looking to finish on a strong note after being ranked No. 3 in the country from Baseball America, it's highest ranking this season. After starting the year 7-7, UNC has gone 25-6 and 18-3 in its last 21 games to put their name at the top of the national rankings.
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RICHMOND SERIES HISTORY
• The Tar Heels will take on Richmond for the 25th time in program history as Carolina holds a 17-7 advantage in the all-time series.
• The last time these two squared off was in 2017 when the Heels won, 5-4, with a walk-off in the bottom of the 9th inning in Chapel Hill. Datres hit in the game-winning run.
• This will be just the second meeting between these schools in the last 10 years.
COASTAL CAROLINA SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 61st meeting between Coastal Carolina and UNC, with the Tar Heels holding a 43-18 advantage.Â
• This will be the only meeting between the two sides this season as the game in Chapel Hill was rained out earlier this season.
• In 2017, the Tar Heels won 7-6 in Chapel Hill where Brett Daniels picked up the win and Kyle Datres went 2-3 with 3 RBI.
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Quick Notes
• Since starting the year 7-7, UNC has gone 25-6 and 18-3 in its last 21 games.
• Carolina is currently leading the ACC with a 18-6 record (Clemson is 18-8). In the Coastal, UNC leads Duke by 2.5 games.Â
• Carolina has now won 16 of its last 18 ACC series dating back to last season.
• UNC has now swept 4 conference series (Pitt, Wake, GT, NC State), the most since the 2012 team swept 5. UNC has also won 5 straight ACC series.Â
• UNC is tied with Clemson for ACC sweeps this year (4). 2 of the last 4 teams to top the ACC in sweeps have gone to Omaha (2015 Miami, 2017 Louisville).
• Austin Bergner's 11 Ks against NC State were the most by a UNC pitcher against NC State sine Alex White struck out 11 in a 5-2 win on March 28, 2008 in Cary.
• Bergner threw 70% of his pitches (80-for-114) against NC State for strikes.Â
• Over his last 4 app., Cooper Criswell is 2-1 and is averaging 13.94 K's per game. He is striking out 16 batters for every one walk and only averaging 0.87 walks per game.
• Over the last 21 games where Carolina is 18-3, no one may be hotter than Brandon Riley. He is second on the team in batting average (.337) and leads the team in hits (30), RBI (26), tied for first in total bases (42), second in triples (2), and tied for 2nd in HR (2).
• Ike Freeman's current 19-game reached base streak is the best of his career. Over those 19 games he is hitting (.324) and is 2nd in RBI (17).
• Since Dallas Tessar joined the starting lineup in Virginia, the team is 10-1 with tessar hitting .302, second best on the team.
• Over the last 4 ACC series, Freeman is leading the team in batting average (.362).
• Freeman ranks 7th in ACC games in batting average with a .333. and 3rd in RBI (24).
• Through 21 games, UNC has one of the best offenses in ACC. Below are the categories the Tar Heels lead in: Batting Average: (.291), OB % (.390), Slugging % (.444), Runs (179), Hits (250), Doubles (45), Triples (6) - T-1st, RBI (169)