March 15, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Nationally ranked North Carolina will open a five-game home stand this week beginning Tuesday. The Tar Heels will play host to Princeton Tuesday at 3 p.m. and Wednesday at 6 p.m., both at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina will resume league play this weekend hosting Florida State.
Carolina is slated to start sophomore right-hander Garrett Davis (1-1, 5.68 ERA) Tuesday opposite Princeton's right-hander Kevin Link (0-0, 9.45 ERA). Freshman right-hander Parker Thomas (0-0, First Career Start) will get the nod for the Tar Heels Wednesday opposite the Tigers' right-hander Zak Hermans (0-0, 9.00 ERA).
Princeton and Carolina will meet for the 35th and 36th times this week. The Tar Heels own a 25-9 advantage in the all-times series, which dates to 1986.
Carolina swept a two-game set with the Tigers last season, winning 17-0 and 6-1. A slew of Carolina players had solid performances last season, most notably, Seth Baldwin who set career-bests with five hits, six RBI and four runs a year ago. Baldwin belted a grand slam and solo home run.
Both Messer and Davis pitched against the Tigers in relief last season, combining for two shutout innings. Princeton head coach Scott Bradley is a former Tar Heel alum, lettering in baseball from 1979-1981. Bradley was an eight-year Major League Baseball veteran and was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Team in 2004.
Carolina features a balanced attack with a .320 team batting average, 3.84 staff ERA and .977 fielding percentage. Five regular starters post an average of .300 or better, led by Ben Bunting (.409) and Ryan Graepel (.362). Graepel is currently riding a career-best ten game hit streak entering the week, along with teammate Brian Goodwin's season-best 11 game streak.
Princeton is currently 1-6 and 0-0 in the Ivy League entering this week. The Tigers dropped two games to UNC Greensboro by a combined two runs this week, but claimed their first victory of the season Monday night. Princeton rallied back to defeat UNC G 8-7 in 12 innings. Reliever Matt Bowman pitched seven shutout innings and struck out five batters to earn the win. Bowman also had what proved to be the game-winning RBI single in the 12th. Carolina defeated UNC G 12-2 earlier this season.
Princeton posts a .250 team batting average, 6.30 staff ERA and .945 fielding percentage. The Tigers are led by Sam Mulroy's .346 batting average and two home runs through seven games.
Before closing the books on last week's action, TarHeelBlue.com takes a look back at the week that was for the Diamond Heels:
NOTING THE WEEK OF MARCH 9-14:
• North Carolina posted a 2-3 record in five games this past week. Carolina dropped a midweek contest to William & Mary 3-0 Tuesday before defeating St. John's 8-2 Wednesday. The Tar Heels fell to 1-2 in ACC play in the league opener this weekend at Duke.
• The Tar Heels scored 43 runs, 35 in a three-game set against Duke, en route to a .330 team batting average. Carolina scored a season-high 21 runs and 21 hits in a 21-9 win over Duke Friday. The 20 plus runs and hits are the most since a 20-4 win over Wofford April 15, 2009. The Diamond Heels posted a 5.86 staff ERA on the week, allowing season-highs in both hits (17) and runs (15).
• Statistically the Duke series featured a plethora of new season-highs. Carolina scored their most runs in a game (21), most runs in an inning (9), most hits in a game (21), largest margin of victory (11), most singles in a game (13), most walks in a game (12) and most strikeouts in a game (12). On the flip side the Tar Heels allowed their most runs of the season (15), most hits in a game (17), most runs in an inning (8) and most walks in a game (7).
• Six different players posted a .300 batting average or better this week, led by Brian Goodwin's .474 mark and Levi Michael's .421 clip. Both Goodwin and Michael slugged .684 this week and drove in a combined 14 runs. Senior Ryan Graepel owns a career-best 10 game hit streak and belted his first home run of the season Friday at Duke.
• Freshman Chaz Frank post four hits in eight at-bats this weekend and has now posted nine hits in his last 16 at-bats. Fellow freshman Bryn Renner posted one hit and RBI in second career start at designated hitter.
• Colin Bates pitched a masterful 6.2 innings in a no decision loss to Duke Sunday. Bates allowed just two runs in six plus frames, while hurling an efficient 81 pitches. Jimmy Messer picked up his first win of the season, throwing 5.2 innings and allowing two runs in a 7-3 win over St. John's Wednesday. R.C. Orlan pitched a season-high 2.2 shutout innings in a 15-11 loss to Duke Saturday.
• Carolina will resume conference play against top-10 Florida State this weekend. The Seminoles took two of three from Carolina a year ago, but post an identical 1-2 league record this season.
