Baseball Eyes Second Consecutive Top-15 Series At Virginia

Thursday, April 4

Charlottesville, Va.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

Virginia

April 3, 2024 | Baseball

By: UNC Athletics Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 10 North Carolina embarks on the second consecutive ACC weekend road trip, kicking off a three-game series against No. 15 Virginia on Thursday at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville.

The series opener on Thursday will be televised on ACC Network at 7 p.m. Game two of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, while the finale is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. with both of those games streaming on ACC Network Extra.

The two teams split their four-game series last season with the Cavaliers taking two of three in Chapel Hill before UNC knocked them out of the ACC Tournament in Durham.

The Tar Heels own a commanding 190-121-3 lead in the all-time series which began in 1891. UNC is 4-6 against the Cavaliers in the last 10 games.

Pitching Matchups

	Thursday \| 7 PM (ACCN)	Friday \| 6 PM (ACCNX)	Saturday \| 1 PM (ACCNX)
Carolina	LHP Folger Boaz (3-1, 4.67 ERA)	RHP Jason DeCaro (1-0, 3.63 ERA)	LHP Shea Sprague (1-1, 4.55 ERA)
Virginia	RHP Cullen McKay (2-1, 5.27 ERA)	LHP Evan Blanco (2-1, 4.05 ERA)	RHP Kevin Jaxel (4-0, 7.40 ERA)
Links	WATCH \| LISTEN \| STATS	WATCH \| LISTEN \| STATS	WATCH \| LISTEN \| STATS

POLL BUSINESS
The Tar Heels cracked the top 10 for the first time this season Monday, peaking at No. 7 in the NCBWA and USA Today Sports Coaches polls. UNC also broke into D1 Baseball and Perfect Game's top 10 at No. 10. Baseball America ranked the Tar Heels No. 13.

NINE IN A ROW AND LOOKING FOR MORE
The Tar Heels enters the series riding a nine-game winning streak following their three-game sweep of No. 12 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem over the weekend. Carolina is tied with Virginia Tech atop the ACC Coastal Division with a 10-2 record followed by third-place Virginia with a 7-5 conference ledger. North Carolina is off to its best start to a season since 2013, when it opened with a 27-2 record. That was also the last time UNC began ACC play with a 10-2 mark. The Tar Heels' seven straight ACC wins are their most since winning eight in a row in 2018.

POWERING UP
The Tar Heels have belted 30 home runs over the last nine games, accounting for 59 percent of their season total. Parks Harber has hit nine home runs in those games, going deep in five consecutive games before his streak ended Sunday at Wake Forest. He blasted three home runs against the Demon Deacons Saturday. He has eight homers in his last 26 at-bats after hitting two in his first 74 at-bats of the season. Casey Cook has hit two-thirds of his home runs over the last nine games, hitting two in the series finale at Miami, another in the opener against Georgia Tech and three in the series at Wake Forest. Luke Stevenson has hit five of his eight home runs during the last nine games.

LONG BALL SERIES
UNC hit 14 home runs in its three games against Wake Forest at Couch Ballpark in Winston-Salem. Seven different players left the yard with a trio hitting three or more. The 14 home runs were the most by the Tar Heels in a three-game series in the Super Regional Era. One Tar Heel hit multiple home runs in all three games. Casey Cook went deep twice in the opener, Parks Harber hit three in the middle game, and Luke Stevenson crushed two in the finale. Carolina scored 25 of its 30 runs in the series via the home run, belting eight solo shots, five three-run homers and one two-run blast.

PLATE PRODUCER
Casey Cook is tied for the ACC lead in RBIs entering the eighth weekend of play. Cook has driven in a career-best 45 runs through the first 29 games after collecting 23 RBIs in 60 games a year ago. He ranks 10th among all NCAA Division I players. He is one of three players to ranks among the ACC top 10 in hits, home runs and RBIs (James Tibb, Florida State; Blake Wright, Clemson). Cook has belted nine home runs in 120 at-bats this season, after hitting three in 224 at-bats a year ago.