Baseball Travels To Campbell For Midweek Matchup

Tuesday, March 5

Buies Creek, N.C.

6 p.m.

North Carolina

Campbell

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

March 4, 2024 | Baseball

By: UNC Athletics Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For the first time in 25 years, North Carolina will travel south to Buies Creek for a midweek match-up against Campbell on Tuesday, March 5, at 6 p.m. for its final game before opening ACC play this weekend.

The game can be heard on goheels.com.

UNC senior right-handed pitcher Connor Bovair (0-0, 0.00) will make his first start of the season after making 14 starts a year ago. Fellow right-handed hurler Cole Peschl (0-1, 5.87) will get the ball for Campbell.

The Tar Heels enter the game on a five-game winning streak following a 5-0 homestand last weekend, concluding with a three-game sweep of Princeton. Senior Alberto Osuna and freshman Luke Stevenson hit two home runs and combined for 21 RBIs. Anthony Donofrio drove in 10 runs on the homestand.

Campbell is 8-3 on the season with a 6-1 mark at home and coming off a series win at Georgia Southern over the weekend. The Camels have won six straight at Jim Perry Stadium, with two wins over No. 17 UC Santa Barbara and one against No. 11 East Carolina.

The Camels defeated Carolina, 6-5, at Boshamer Stadium last season to end the Tar Heels' seven-game series winning streak.

UNC leads the all-time series 39-11 and owns a 13-4 record at Buies Creek, where it last played on April 13, 1999 (W, 7-3).

Pitching Matchup

	Tuesday \| 6 p.m. (FloSports)
Campbell	RHP Cole Peschl (0-1, 5.87 ERA)
North Carolina	RHP Connor Bovair (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Links	WATCH \| LISTEN \| LIVE STATS

In The Rankings
Entering the fourth week of the season, the Tar Heels are ranked inside the top 16 by Baseball America, D1 Baseball, and Perfect Game, peaking at No. 14 in the NCBWA and the USA Today Sports Coaches poll.

Scouting The Camels
Campbell is ranked 22nd in this week's D1 Baseball Top 25 Poll. Junior Grant Knipp is hitting .516 with a 1.963 OPS in the first 11 games, belting seven home runs and driving in 17. Junior Reed Stallman has 15 RBIs. Senior Lawson Harrill has hit safely in eight straight games and ranks second behind Knipp in hitting with a .366 batting average.

Quickly Out Of The Gate
UNC has gotten off to a hot start in Coach Scott Forbes' first four seasons and has won at least 10 of its first 12 games for the second time in three years. Carolina opened the 2022 season by winning 11 of its first 12 games and started the 2021 and 2023 campaigns with an 8-4 and 9-3 mark. 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.

Top 10 Tar Heels
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Matthew Matthijs is tied for the NCAA lead in victories with four. He has been the winning pitcher in four of Carolina's last four triumphs. Anthony Donofrio has drawn a team-best 15 base on balls this season, which leads the ACC and ranks seventh nationally, two behind NCAA leader Will Turner of Alabama (17). Vance Honeycutt is ranked ninth among all Division I players with six home runs this season. Georgia Tech's Drew Burress leads the ACC and the nation with nine. Miami's Jason Torres is second in the conference with seven.