University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
Diamond Heels Host Princeton For Three
March 1, 2024 | Baseball
UNC HOST PRINCETON IN FINAL NON-CONFERENCE WEEKEND SERIES
• North Carolina will host Princeton in its final non-conference three-game weekend series beginning Friday at Boshamer Stadium. The series opener is slated for 11 a.m. at Boshamer Stadium followed by noon first pitches on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Tigers are coached by former two-time UNC All-American Scott Bradley. Bradley, the 1980 ACC Player of the Year, was named to the conference's 50th Anniversary Team in 2004. He hit .336 with 24 home runs and 144 RBIs during his three years at UNC. He spent nine years in the majors, playing primarily for the Seattle Mariners.
• Carolina is 7-0 at home this season after sweeping its midweek games against VCU (8-2) and Longwood (12-3). Princeton enters the game with a 1-2 record following its opening weekend series at UNCW.
PARKING ADJUSTMENTS
• With over 20 home athletic events on tap and 16 visiting teams in Chapel Hill between Friday and Sunday, normal parking and traffic procedures wil lbe altered. There will NO public parking in the RAMS HEAD DECK on Saturday. The Bell Tower Deck, Raleigh Road Visitors Lot and Stadium Drive will be open for normal parking operations each day (Stadium Drive is closed until 5 p.m. Friday). ADA parking will be available in Rams Head Dock every day.
ROTATION CHANGE
• After two turns through the rotation, UNC is making a change to its weekend rotation with junior Shea Sprague scheduled to pitch game two Saturday and freshman Jason DeCaro slated to take the mound in the series finale. Freshman Folger Boaz will make his third consecutive series opening start on Friday.
• Sprague made 25 starts in two years at Elon before transferring to UNC this season. A year ago, Sprague he led CAA with 90.1 innings pitched and finished second in the conference in ERA (2.69) and strikeouts (82). DeCaro will be making his third start of the season and second of the week. He threw 95 pitches and pitched six inning of one-run ball Tuesday against VCU.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
• North Carolina will host Princeton in its final non-conference three-game weekend series beginning Friday at Boshamer Stadium. The series opener is slated for 11 a.m. at Boshamer Stadium followed by noon first pitches on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Tigers are coached by former two-time UNC All-American Scott Bradley. Bradley, the 1980 ACC Player of the Year, was named to the conference's 50th Anniversary Team in 2004. He hit .336 with 24 home runs and 144 RBIs during his three years at UNC. He spent nine years in the majors, playing primarily for the Seattle Mariners.
• Carolina is 7-0 at home this season after sweeping its midweek games against VCU (8-2) and Longwood (12-3). Princeton enters the game with a 1-2 record following its opening weekend series at UNCW.
PARKING ADJUSTMENTS
• With over 20 home athletic events on tap and 16 visiting teams in Chapel Hill between Friday and Sunday, normal parking and traffic procedures wil lbe altered. There will NO public parking in the RAMS HEAD DECK on Saturday. The Bell Tower Deck, Raleigh Road Visitors Lot and Stadium Drive will be open for normal parking operations each day (Stadium Drive is closed until 5 p.m. Friday). ADA parking will be available in Rams Head Dock every day.
ROTATION CHANGE
• After two turns through the rotation, UNC is making a change to its weekend rotation with junior Shea Sprague scheduled to pitch game two Saturday and freshman Jason DeCaro slated to take the mound in the series finale. Freshman Folger Boaz will make his third consecutive series opening start on Friday.
• Sprague made 25 starts in two years at Elon before transferring to UNC this season. A year ago, Sprague he led CAA with 90.1 innings pitched and finished second in the conference in ERA (2.69) and strikeouts (82). DeCaro will be making his third start of the season and second of the week. He threw 95 pitches and pitched six inning of one-run ball Tuesday against VCU.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
| Friday | 11 AM ET (ACCNX) | Saturday | 12 ET (ACCNX) | Sunday | 12 ET (ACCNX) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNC | LHP Folger Boaz (1-0, 1.86) | LHP Shea Sprague (0-1, 6.75) | RHP Jason DeCaro (1-0, 4.82) |
| Princeton | RHP Sean Episcope (0-1, 15.00 ERA) | RHP Justin Kim (1-0, 0.00 ERA) | RHP Richard Ferre-Westdrop |
| Links | WATCH | LISTEN | WATCH | LISTEN | WATCH | LISTEN |
GETTING OUT OF THE GATES QUICKLY
• UNC has gotten off to a hot start in each of Coach Scott Forbes' first four seasons. The Tar Heels opened the season with six consecutive wins in 2021 and 2022, and won their first five in 2024.
• Carolina opened the 2022 season by winning nine of its first 10 games, and the 2021 and '23 campaigns with 7-3 marks. UNC has gotten off to a 7-2 start this season.
• The Diamond Heels won 11 games before ACC play began each of the previous two seasons, going 11-2 in 2022 and 11-3 a year ago.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
• North Carolina has compiled a record of 59-26 (.659) against non-ACC opponents under head coach Scott Forbes. The Tar Heels were 11 games over .500 (20-9) against opponents outside the ACC a year ago and 16 games over (23-7) in 2022.
• UNC has won six of its eight three-game non-ACC weekend series since 2020, posting a 14-4 record in those games (2021: 3-0 vs. James Madison; 2022: 3-0 vs. Seton Hall, 2-1 vs. East Carolina, 3-0 vs. Coastal Carolina; 2023: 2-1 vs. Seton Hall, 1-2 vs. East Carolina, 3-0 vs. Stony Brook; 2024: 3-0 vs. Wagner, 1-2 vs. East Carolina).
• Due to the pandemic, the Tar Heels only played one non-ACC weekend series in 2020 and its 2023 weekend series against ECU was completed during the midweek after the Saturday game was rained out.
DOUBLE BERTO BLASTS
• Alberto Osuna recorded the fourth multi-home run game of his career on Wednesday against Longwood and first since his freshman season.
• He is one of 10 Tar Heels since 1978 to hit multi-home runs in four or more games.
Players Mentioned
LHP
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1B/DH
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