No. 7 Baseball Visits No. 11 Duke To End Regular Season

Thursday, May 16

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

Duke

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

May 16, 2024 | Baseball

By: UNC Athletics Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- No. 7 North Carolina wraps up the 2024 regular season this weekend with a three-game series at ACC Coastal Division rival No. 11 Duke. The Tar Heels enter the game on a six-game winning streak following their three-game sweep of Louisville over the weekend. The Blue Devils have lost each of their last two ACC series, dropping two of three at home to Florida State and losing twice to Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

UNC is making its first visit to Jack Coombs Field since 2014. The Tar Heels have won nine of the last 12 games against the Blue Devils, claiming four consecutive series victories. Carolina leads the all-time series 198-106-2.

UNC and Duke are tied for second in the ACC with 96 home runs each. Both teams ranks among the top five in the conference in batting average, ERA, runs, runs per game, and slugging percentage.

Carolina has won 10 of its last 11 games after enduring a three-game losing streak—all by one run—outscoring its opponents 120-41. The Tar Heels have hit 22 home runs and collected 112 RBIs.

North Carolina can boast the ACC' best record and clinch the No. 1 overall seed for next week's tournament in Charlotte (May 21-27) with either a win or Clemson over the weekend.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

	Thursday \| 7 ET (ACCN)	Friday \| 6 ET (ACCNX)	Saturday \| 1 ET (ACCNX)
Carolina	RHP Jason DeCaro (4-1, 3.98 ERA)	LHP Shea Sprague (3-1, 3.81 ERA)	RHP Aidan Haugh (4-1, 3.95 ERA)
Duke	LHP Kyle Johnson (3-1 4.46 ERA)	TBA	TBA
Links	WATCH \| LISTEN \| STATS	WATCH \| LISTEN \| STATS	WATCH \| LISTEN \| STATS

POLL POSITION
North Carolina is ranked in the top 10 by all five major polls this week, peaking at No. 4 in the Baseball America weekly poll. The Tar Heels are ranked fifth in the NCBWA and USA Today Sports Coaches poll, sixth by Perfect Game and seventh by D! Baseball.

MORE HISTORY AWAITS HONEYCUTT
Vance Honeycutt is one home run shy of becoming the fourth player in ACC history to hit 60 home runs.

SPEED & POWER
The Tar Heels are the only NCAA Division I power conference team with more than 90 home runs and 70 stolen bases this season. UNC has hit 96 homers and swiped 78 bases. Honeycutt and fellow UNC outfielder Anthony Donofrio are two of four players since the start of the 2022 season to hit 25 home runs and steal 60 bases.

H2O
North Carolina is one of only two schools (Georgia)in the country with three players on its current roster with 40 or more career home runs: Vance Honeycutt (59), Parks Harber (52), and Alberto Osuna (44). Carolina and Morehead State are the only two with a pair of 50-home run hitters. Honeycutt ranks fourth among active players in career home runs and Harber is 10th.

POWERING UP
The Tar Heels have belted 75 home runs over the last 30 games, accounting for 78.1 percent of their season total. Carolina is on pace to hit a 105 home runs with a minimum of five games remaining before the NCAA tournament. The school record is 108, set in 2002. Parks Harber has hit 17 homers, while Vance Honeycutt has launched 16 and Casey Cook has hit 12 during that stretch.