University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
South Carolina
Diamond Heels Head To Charlotte To Face South Carolina
April 9, 2024 | Baseball
UNC has won four of the previous seven games against the Gamecocks played at Truist Field, but has lost three of the last four, including each of the last two. The Tar Heels were shut out in last year's meeting, 5-0. North Carolina holds a 68-38 lead in the all-time series.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS
South Carolina is 22-10 on the season with a 6-6 SEC record. The Gamecocks are slashing .270/.426/.480 as team with 50 home runs. Ethan Petry leads UofSC with a .318 batting average, 13 home runs and 31 RBIs. Cole Messina has 10 home runs and 30 RBIs. The Gamecocks have a team ERA of 4.37.
Pitching Matchups
| Tuesday | 7 ET (ACCNX) | |
|---|---|
| UofSC | RHP Dylan Eskew (2-2, 4.83 ERA) |
| Carolina | LHP Folger Boaz (3-1, 5.89 ERA) |
| Links | WATCH | LISTEN | STATS |
LAST TIME OUT
UNC finished off its series at Virginia with a 12-7 win on Saturday. Parks Harber homered and drove in four runs, going 3-for-5. Harber hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh to break a 6-6 tie and freshman Luke Stevenson delivered a two-run home to put the Tar Heels ahead 9-6. Matt Poston picked up the win, tossing a season-high 3.1 innings out of the bullpen.
POLL BUSINESS
The Tar Heels were ranked inside the top 15 in each of the five major polls this week, peaking at No. 12 in the Perfect Game and USA Today Sports Coaches polls. UNC came in 13th in the D1 Baseball and NCBWA rankings and 14th in Baseball America.
GETTING OFFENSIVE
North Carolina has one of the top offenses in country, ranking among the top 25 NCAA Division I teams in seven categories: hits (12th), scoring (17th), base on balls (19th), home runs (19th), slugging percentage (22nd), home runs per game (23rd) and batting average (24th). Since erupting for 18 runs against Miami on St. Patrick's Day, the Tar Heels have scored double digit runs in eight of the last 12 games, averaging 9.92 runs per game.
POWER SURGE
The Tar Heels have belted 35 home runs over the last 12 games, accounting for 62.5 percent of their season total (56). UNC hit just 21 home runs in its first 20 games. Four players have nine or more homers this season: Parks Harber (11), Vance Honeycutt (10), Casey Cook (9) and Luke Stevenson (9).
HARBER HEATING UP
Senior Parks Harber has found his power stroke now that spring has sprung. The Atlanta native has hit 10 home runs and has driven in 24 runs in the last 11 games. He has hit safely in nine consecutive games with seven multi-hit games during the streak, including a trio of three-hit games: most recently in the series finale Saturday against Virginia (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBIs).
RISING NUMBERS
Over the past month (since March 10), senior Anthony Donofrio has raised his batting average 50 points from .264 to .314 entering Tuesday's game against South Carolina. He has gone 19-of-52 (.365) in his last 14 games with 15 runs, 11 RBIs and seven stolen bases. Donofrio has hit safely in a season-long nine consecutive games.
RBI MACHINES
Redshirt sophomore Casey Cook ranks second in the ACC and seventh nationally in RBIs with 48, more than double his 2023 season total of 23. He's had five RBIs in each of the last two series (at Wake Forest, at Virginia). He leads UNC with 14 multi-RBI games this season. Luke Stevenson has driven home 15 runs in the last five games. He had nine total in the last two games of the Wake Forest series, four in the series opener at Virginia and two in the finale. He collected a career-best six RBIs with a pair of three-run homers to complete the sweep of Wake Forest. Alberto Osuna has driven in 38 runs this season.
ALL I DO IS WIN
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Matthew Matthijs has made 18 appearances – all in relief - this season and owns an 11-1 record, most wins among all NCAA Division I pitchers. The school record for wins in a season is 14 (Greg Norris, 1978).
