Carolina Set To Clash With Campbell

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Tar Heels return to the diamond after a rare weekend away with a Tuesday night matchup against in-state competitors Campbell.

It will be the 53rd all-time meeting between Carolina and the Fighting Camels, with the Heels leading 41-11 overall and 27-7 in games in Chapel Hill.

UNC took both of last season's matchups and has won nine of the last 10. The 2024 away leg was tied until Casey Cook put Carolina ahead against a No. 21 ranked Campbell. The home portion of the two-game series went 16-10 to the Tar Heels with Anthony Donofrio and Colby Wilkerson driving three runs in a piece.

SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 6 - 6 PM ET
Watch: ACCNX
Listen: GoHeels.com/97.9 WCHL

#4 North Carolina Tar Heels (35-10, 15-9 ACC)
Head Coach: Scott Forbes
Record at North Carolina: 189-99 (5th Season)
Career Record: Same
Career vs. Campbell: 4-1

Campbell Fighting Camels (20-26, 11-10 ACC)
Head Coach: Chris Marx
Record at Campbell: 20-26 (1st Season)
Career Record: Same
Career vs. UNC: 0-0

MIDWEEK MADNESS
➤ On Tuesday, the Heels came one shy of a run-rule in a 13-4 win over George Mason.
➤ An eight run seventh inning was the highlight as Carolina registered 15 hits and forced five errors out of the Patriots, the most mistakes from an opponent this year.
➤ True freshman Walker McDuffie was given the ball for his first career start and showed once again why he has already earned his coaches' trust. The Lee County legend went a career-long 5.1 near-shutout innings, allowing just two hits and one run (his lone walk of the day).
➤ UNC wrapped up their week by finishing off a 14-3 run-rule victory over Queens.
➤ The Tar Heels made it back-to-back games in double figures with another big offensive inning, scoring nine in the fourth. The inning started with a pop out before 10 straight Carolina batters reached base safely from seven hits and three errors from the Royals.
➤ Hunter Stokely issued the game's final blow with the team's first walk-off home run of the year, a 354 foot no-doubter to finish the game in the eighth.

ARM TALENT
➤ The Tar Heels' staff leads the ACC in a number of categories including ERA (3.48, 5th NCAA), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.64, 21st NCAA), WHIP (1.22, 9th NCAA), and walks allowed per nine (3.55, 28th NCAA).
➤ Carolina's starters are all over the ACC leader boards, pacing the conference game only lists in at least five categories.
➤ Knapp has been particularly brilliant, pacing the conference in ERA (1.96), OBA (.179), IP (55.0), and wins (8) while being 2nd in strikeouts (53).
➤ Nationally, Knapp is 10th in ERA (2.14) and second in victories (9).
➤ The duo of Knapp and Haugh are 1st and 7th in opp. batting average.
➤ UNC put up games with 17 and 14 strikeouts back-to-back twice in week two alone. The last time the team had 14+ Ks in back-to-back games more than once in the same season was 2008.

YOUNG BUCKS BRING THE HEAT
➤ Carolina has called upon three true freshman arms to deliver in big spots this season.
➤ First to appear was the Lee County legend Walker McDuffie. He has thrown 19 times with one start, striking out 57 batters, earning three wins, and logging four saves.
➤ His save was the first by a Carolina true freshman since Shawn Rapp's against Elon on Feb. 18, 2020.
➤ Flamethrower Ryan Lynch currently holds the second lowest ERA of the regular relievers at 2.37. He has two saves and holds a 4-0 record.
➤ It is the first time UNC has multiple freshmen with more than one save in a season since at least 1997.
➤ The last true freshman Heel to record more than one save in a season was Trent Thornton, who had eight in 2013.
➤ Lynch's seven strikeouts were the most by a Carolina pitcher in their collegiate debut since Max Carlson racked up eight on Feb. 20, 2021.
➤ Ellerbe, N.C. native Camron Seagraves has 14 appearances and was the first of the trio to get a start. He has two wins and 28 Ks in 19.0 IP.
➤ Punching out two to finish off history, he is the first freshman on record to be involved in a UNC no-hitter.
➤ The trio, alongside the young Jason Decaro, own 15 of the Tar Heels' 35 wins so far this year. Lynch is the oldest of the group while DeCaro, the sophomore, is the youngest player on the team.

A-MAD DASH
➤ Carolina's shortstop has been on a tear as of late, coinciding with the team's resurgence at the plate.
➤ In his last 14 games, he's hitting .444 with 24 hits, 14 runs scored, 11 RBIs, and 10 walks.
➤ He recently overtook Stokely for the team's best batting average (.335) and has been at the top of the list for multi-hit games (17) all year.
➤ The highlight of his current run came in the bottom of the 14th against Duke when he capped off a four-hit evening with a walk-off single to take the series.
➤ A close second on the highlight list would have to be hitting his first home run of the year as part of the seven long ball night for the Heels against Pitt.
➤ It wasn't a cheap shot that squeaked over the fence either, going 369 feet and pinging off the scoreboard in left.
➤ The veteran added his second long ball, and his first at home, to put Carolina ahead against Queens.

NO PLACE LIKE THE BOSH
➤ The Tar Heels boasted a 37-3 record at Boshamer Stadium last season, winning a program record 92.5 percent of its games at home.
➤ The previous highest complete season winning percentage at Boshamer Stadium was 92.3 in 2011 (36-3) and 1985 (24-2).
4UNC opened the season with 23 consecutive wins before suffering its first home loss (4/16 vs. Coastal Carolina), setting a program record for most consecutive home wins to start a season.
4The 23 victories were a part of a school record 27 straight wins at Boshamer Stadium, including the final four games of the 2023 campaign.
➤ Only Tennessee (40) had more home wins than the Tar Heels in 2024, and only UC Santa Barbara and Oregon State had fewer losses (2).
➤ It was the 13th time in program history the Tar Heels won 30 or more home games.
➤ The Tar Heels have won 77.3 percent of their home games since 2021, going 135-39.

NON-CON COMBAT
➤ The Heels have compiled a 96-31 (.776) record in games against non-ACC opponents under Forbes. This season, they are 20-1 against out of conference play. The 2024 team was 24-6.
➤ Since 2020, UNC has won 11 of its 12 three-game non-conference weekend series with a 29-6 mark in that span.

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Players Mentioned

Casey Cook

Anthony Donofrio

Ryan Lynch

Walker McDuffie

Camron Seagraves

Hunter Stokely

Colby Wilkerson

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University of North Carolina Athletics