May 15, 2001
UNC Baseball Notes
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Carolina enters play in this week's 28th Annual ACC Baseball Tournament on a roll, having won five of its last six games and four of its last seven against ranked opponents. Carolina and Georgia Tech traded wins in the first two games of their series last weekend, but the Tar Heels took the rubber game, 11-10, on Sunday, which vaulted UNC to the No. 6 seed in this week's Tournament. Carolina will face third-seeded Wake Forest at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the first round. The Tar Heels, who were swept by the Demon Deacons in Chapel Hill in March, have opened the Tournament seven previous times against Wake Forest and are 4-3 in those games. Last year, Wake and Carolina went a wild 13 innings in a first round game before the Deacs prevailed 8-7. Carolina twice led by two runs in extra innings before Danny Borrell crushed a game-ending homer to right in the bottom of the 13th for the win. Carolina is 8-4 overall in ACC Tournament games against Wake Forest.
TAR HEELS HEAD TO TOURNAMENT ON A ROLL
Carolina enters play in this week's 28th Annual ACC Baseball Tournament on a roll, having won five of its last six games and four of its last seven against ranked opponents. Carolina and Georgia Tech traded wins in the first two games of their series last weekend, but the Tar Heels took the rubber game, 11-10, on Sunday, which vaulted UNC to the No. 6 seed in this week's Tournament. Carolina will face third-seeded Wake Forest at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the first round. The Tar Heels, who were swept by the Demon Deacons in Chapel Hill in March, have opened the Tournament seven previous times against Wake Forest and are 4-3 in those games. Last year, Wake and Carolina went a wild 13 innings in a first round game before the Deacs prevailed 8-7. Carolina twice led by two runs in extra innings before Danny Borrell crushed a game-ending homer to right in the bottom of the 13th for the win. Carolina is 8-4 overall in ACC Tournament games against Wake Forest.
THE WAKE FOREST SERIES (MARCH 16-18): UNC SWEPT AT HOME TO START ACC SEASON
Wake Forest pounded out 35 runs on 42 hits, including eight home runs, in sweeping UNC in Chapel Hill for the first time since 1991. The Demon Deacons opened the series with a 12-5 win, a game in which Wake got 16 hits but benefitted from seven walks and 12 stranded UNC base-runners. On Saturday, Wake erased a 6-1 Carolina lead to score a 12-7 victory. Wake Forest standout Cory Sullivan stole the show in Sunday's 11-3 win over the Tar Heels. Making his first career start on the mound, Sullivan allowed just one run on three hits over 7.0 innings for the win. Meanwhile, Sullivan was 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBIs and three runs scored. Sullivan had one of four Wake Forest home runs. Ryan Johnson's two-out grand slam in the fifth inning blew open a 3-1 game for the Deacs. Jeremy Cleveland and Ryan Blake provided bright spots in the 0-3 start to the ACC season. Cleveland was 6-for-13 (.462) in his first ACC series, while Ryan Blake had two home runs and knocked in eight of UNC's 15 runs in the series in batting 4-for-11 (.364).
CAROLINA SHOWS LATE-SEASON IMPROVEMENT WITH WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS
After winning just one of its first nine games against ranked opponents (8-7 over UCLA on March 2), Carolina has won three of its past four and four of its past seven games against a team in the national rankings. The Tar Heels got a big non-conference win when they stopped No. 19 East Carolina, 6-3, on April 17 at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina, which has won eight of its last nine meetings with the Pirates, used strong pitching performances by starter Daniel Moore (6.2 IP, 3 R, 3H) and closer Jason Howell (2.1 IP, 0 R, 2 H) to get the win. Leading 3-1, Sean Farrell's solo homer in the fifth proved to be the game-winner as ECU rallied for two runs in the seventh before eventually falling by the three-run margin. Then after dropping the first two games at Clemson -- including a 10-9, 10-inning heartbreaker on April 28 -- Carolina defeated the 12th-rated Tigers, 4-0, on April 29 to avoid a three-game sweep. It was the first time in school history that UNC held the Tigers scoreless at Clemson. Last weekend in Chapel Hill, Carolina took two of three from No. 10 Georgia Tech to close the regular season. Carolina won 10-5 in the series-opener with the help of Ralph Roberts, who started and got the win and also had a three-run homer. The Yellow Jackets pounded UNC, 19-5, in the middle game of the series before the Tar Heels outlasted Tech 11-10 in the series-finale.
PROSSER VAULTS TO TEAM LEAD IN BATTING
Shortstop Chad Prosser, who hit a solid .302 last year as a freshman, has come into his own at the plate in 2001, leading the Tar Heels with a .355 average. While Prosser had cooled a bit in mid April and was just 2-for-21 in five games from April 21-27, he is back on track, batting 11-for-28 (.393) with 10 RBIs and eight runs in the seven games since. He started the month of April on a tear, batting 9-for-12 (.750) in three games against NC State (March 30-April 2) and 11-for-14 (.786) at Maryland (April 6-8). Prosser, who led the Tar Heels last year as a freshman with a .377 average in ACC games, again leads the team this year and also has an ACC-best .434 batting average in league games. That includes two 5-for-5 games in one week (at NC State on April 2 and at Maryland on April 8). Prosser's five-hit game in Raleigh marked the first time a Tar Heel had tallied five hits in one game since Feb. 7, 1998. In the 16-9 win at Maryland on April 8, Prosser's five hits included three doubles, one triple and a single.
AUTREY PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
Scott Autrey earned Co-ACC Pitcher of the Week honors (with Virginia's Brandon Creswell) on April 30 after pitching a complete-game, four-hit shutout at Clemson on April 29. Carolina's 4-0 win against the Tigers marked the first time in the century-long history of the series that the Tar Heels had held the Tigers scoreless at Clemson. Autrey also tied a career-high with six strikeouts in the win. Including a win on Sunday against Georgia Tech to up his season record to 3-3 and a solid relief outing against Duke on April 20, Autrey has been Carolina's most consistent starter over the past month. Autrey, who held the Yellow Jackets scoreless into the sixth inning of Sunday's 11-10 victory, had compiled a 19-inning scoreless streak, dating back to that April 20 game versus the Blue Devils.
TAR HEEL TIDBITS
* Jason Howell is riding a career-long nine-game hitting streak, which he began on April 24 versus UNCW. Last weekend versus Georgia Tech, Howell was 5-for-9 (.556) with five RBIs and he scored four runs. He doubled in all three games against the Yellow Jackets.
* Sean Farrell, who has upped his batting average from .273 in 2000 to .330 this year, has drawn 41 walks in 55 games. Last season, Farrell walked just 20 times the whole season.
* Adam Greenberg hit his 10th career triple in Sunday's win over Goergia Tech, moving him into a tie for fifth place all-time at Carolina for triples. UNC assistant coach Chad Holbrook holds the school record for career triples with 14 from 1990-93.
* Adam Greenberg, who has hit safely in eight of the last nine games, has upped his batting average to .308, the highest it's been since he was hitting .312 on March 11.
* Jeremy Cleveland, owner of the two longest hitting streaks on the team this year -- 12 games (March 27-April 13) and 11 games (March 2-21) -- is in his longest drought of the year at the plate, batting 0-for-13 over the past four games.
* Chris Maples, who entered the season with just two career home runs (both as a freshman in 1999) and 32 RBIs, has had a breakout junior season. Maples ranks third for UNC with 39 RBIs and his seven home runs are tied for the team lead. He has hit safely in five of his last six games, including back-to-back three-hit games on May 1 (Liberty) and May 2 (at UNC Wilmington).
* Russ Adams saw a career-high-tying nine-game hitting streak snapped on Friday versus Georgia Tech, but he rebounded with hits on Saturday and Sunday versus the Yellow Jackets and has now hit in 11 of 12 contests.
* Chad Prosser has broken out of a 2-for-21 slump over five games from April 21-27 to bat 11-for-28 (.393) over the seven UNC contests since. He has driven in 10 runs and scored eight times over that stretch.
* Ryan Blake, who had eight multi-RBI games in the first 23 games of the season and just one in the next 25 games in which he played, was back on track in last weekend's Georgia Tech series. Blake was 4-for-10 with five RBIs and he doubled three times.
* Ralph Roberts has not had a multi-hit game since having four straight two-hit games from April 7-11, a span of 13 games.
TAR HEELS LACKING FIREPOWER AT THE PLATE
As a team, Carolina has hit just 29 home runs in 2001, which ranks eighth in the ACC. Chris Maples and Ryan Blake each have seven homers to lead the Tar Heels, while Ralph Roberts has four. Carolina, which had 69 homers last year and 63 in Mike Fox's first year as head coach, has not had less than 30 home runs in a season since the 1978 Tar Heels tallied 29. Meanwhile, one year after setting a school record with a .323 team batting average, the Tar Heels are hitting .302 as a team in 2001. The last time Carolina did not hit at least .300 was in 1996 (.289).
UNC IS 12-4 IN ONE-RUN GAMES
Carolina is 12-4 in one-run games in 2001, compared to 8-8 in games decided by a single run last year. Of Carolina's 11 one-run wins, four have been won in the bottom of the ninth with game-ending hits, one was won on a game-ending sacrifice fly, and one was a game-winning homer in the bottom of the 11th inning.
HEELS STRUGGLE IN ACC, BUT FINISH STRONG
Carolina got off to an 0-7 start in ACC play for the first time in school history prior to getting two league wins at NC State on April 2. The Tar Heels were swept by Wake Forest (March 16-18), at Florida State (March 23-25) and dropped the series opener at NC State on March 30. But UNC rebounded to go 9-8 in the ACC since, including wins in three of its last four conference games, for a 9-15 league record. Carolina started 0-4 in ACC play in both 1996 and 2000, but the Tar Heels had never dropped their first seven ACC contests prior to this season. Carolina's worst ACC finish in school history was 6-18 (.250) in 1997.
YOUNG PITCHERS SHOWING IMPROVEMENT
Carolina has allowed double-digit runs in 17 games this season -- 16 of which were losses. UNC's opponents have averaged 10.0 runs in Carolina's 24 losses in 2001, but only 5.1 in Carolina's 31 wins. But several of UNC's freshman pitchers have shown marked improvement in the last month of the season. In the April 11 win over Charlotte, Daniel Moore and Kevin Brower combined to allow just three hits and one run against the 49ers, marking the lowest hit total of the year by an opponent and the fewest runs since a 3-0 win over Seton Hall on Feb. 24. Against Virginia two days later, Dennis Robinson set UNC season highs with 8.0 innings and 13 strikeouts. Scott Manshack posted wins in consecutive, late-season starts, including the May 1 Liberty game, when he struck out a career-best eight batters in a career-high 7.0 innings. And in Carolina's win at UNCW on April 2, Moore pitched five scoreless innings out of the bullpen to get the victory, upping his record to 5-4.
PLENTY OF PITCHERS SEEING TIME FOR UNC
After losing nearly its entire pitching staff to the MLB Draft and graduation the past two years -- gone are 38 of 46 wins, 14 of 15 saves and 82.4 percent of UNC's total innings pitched from last year -- Carolina has nine true freshmen pitchers on its roster. Throw in senior transer Jason Howell and junior transfer Ralph Roberts and the Tar Heels have plenty of new faces on the mound in 2001. As a result, 14 different pitchers have seen action through 55 games. UNC has used an average of 3.8 different pitchers per game, while last year the Tar Heels averaged 3.0 pitchers per game over its 63-game schedule.
BENSON, HOWELL SOLIDIFY BULLPEN
Among the major holes that needed to be filled with the departure of last year's senior class was that of the closer. Afterall, All-America closer Derrick DePriest, whose 124 career appearances and 26 saves rank second all-time at UNC, had been UNC's ace out of the bullpen since 1998. Jason Howell and Whitley Benson have filled in admirably in the 2001 season, combining for a 9-4 record and seven saves in 87.2 innings. Howell picked up his fourth save in the April 17 win over East Carolina and followed that up with his sixth win in the 10-7 victory over Duke on April 20. Meanwhile, Benson earned his third save of the year on April 25 against UNC Greensboro. Benson entered that game with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh but held the Spartans scoreless in the seventh, he struck out the side in the eighth and allowed one run before wrapping up the win in the ninth.
ROBERTS SHINES IN STARTING ROLE
Ralph Roberts, who transferred to Carolina from Lenoir Community College, was expected to make an immediate contribution when he arrived at UNC in the fall. Roberts, who has already been drafted three times but instead opted to attend UNC, is batting .284 with 35 RBIs and four home runs. But his biggest impact is being felt on the mound. After three solid relief outings, Roberts moved into the starting rotation on March 29 and has provided some of the consistency that that Tar Heel staff has lacked throughout the season. Roberts, 3-1 with a team-best 3.44 ERA, was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week on April 9 after notching conference wins over NC State and Maryland in the week. The junior righty struck out five in 6.2 innings against the Wolfpack in the second game of a April 2 doubleheader, as the Tar Heels won their first series at NCSU since 1993. On April 8 against Maryland, Roberts gave up three runs on just four hits over 7.0 innings for his second win of the year. He also was 2-for-4 (including a three-run homer) and drove in four runs in the series-ending game against the Terps. He got his third win in the series-opener with Georgia Tech last Friday. Roberts held the explosive Yellow Jackets to three earned runs -- four total -- in 6.0 innings and then helped his cause with a three-run homer in the seventh as Carolina won, 10-5.
RUSS ADAMS COMES UP BIG IN THE CLUTCH
Russ Adams has become one of Carolina's biggest threats at the plate as a sophomore. Adams, who ranks fourth among UNC's regulars with a .328 batting average, leads the Tar Heels with 76 hits and 51 runs scored. Adams ranks second on the team with 27 steals and 40 RBIs, and he's ended three games with game-winning hits -- JMU, Minnesota and UCLA.
LONE SENIOR STARS AROUND THE DIAMOND
Stocked with 15 freshmen, Carolina has just one senior on its 2001 roster, transfer Jason Howell. A three-year letterwinner at Appalachian State University, Howell enrolled at UNC in the fall and made an immediate impact for the Tar Heels. Howell has seen time as the DH, at first base, in right field and on the mound. Howell's among the ACC's best with six wins (6-2 overall) in 43.2 innings, and he leads the team with four saves. He ranks second on the team with a 4.33 ERA and a .351 batting average. Last weekend versus Georgia Tech, Howell was 5-for-9 (.556) with five RBIs and he scored four times. He enters the ACC Tournament riding a season-high nine-game hitting streak.
ROBINSON FANS 13 IN WIN OVER VIRGINIA
Freshman right-hander Dennis Robinson had his finest outing of the year in a 10-6 win over Virginia on April 13, a game in which he struck out a career-high 13 batters in eight complete innings. At the time, his eight innings pitched marked the longest outing by a Tar Heel this year, and his 13 K's remain the most by a Carolina pitcher in 2001. In fact, his 13 strikeouts were the most by a freshman pitcher since Mike Bynum fanned 14 batters in seven innings at Maryland on March 16, 1997. Robinson struck out seven in 7.2 innings out out of the bullpen for the win at NC State on April 2 (Game 1), UNC's first ACC victory. Robinson has struggled in his last two starts though, giving up six runs on five hits in 0.2 innings to Duke on April 20 and three runs on three hits in the first inning to UNC Wilmington on May 2.
