April 16, 2009
Carolina-Miami Series Notes (PDF)
Carolina-Miami Series Central
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
No. 4 North Carolina faces a ranked opponent for the fourth straight weekend when ACC Coastal Division rival No. 7 Miami comes to Chapel Hill for dedication weekend of the newly-renovated Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels (28-10, 10-7 ACC) and Hurricanes (26-10, 11-7 ACC) are slated to play at 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
All three games will be carried by the Tar Heels Sports Network with Jones Angell and Adam Lucas on the call on AM-1360 WCHL in Chapel Hill, Raleigh's 850 The Buzz, Burlington's WBAG (1150 AM) and TarHeelBlue.com.
Saturday's game will be televised on Fox Sports Net South in North Carolina, and the Friday and Sunday games will be aired on CSS and on ACCSelect.com.
The Tar Heels have won three straight series against the Hurricanes, including a series win over then-No. 1 Miami to close the regular season in 2008. UNC has won six of the last seven meetings. Carolina is 7-4-1 against Miami since it joined the ACC prior to the 2005 season. Mike Fox is 12-6-1 versus the Canes. Miami leads the all-time slate by a 19-17-1 margin.
North Carolina is tied for fourth nationally with 28 wins this season. The Tar Heels entered 2009 with an NCAA-best 165 wins over the last three seasons. With four wins over top-25 opponents in the last 10 games, Carolina is now 9-6 with three series victories versus ranked foes this season.
Four Tar Heel starters are batting better than .316 on the season, with Kyle Seager (.393) and Dustin Ackley (.388) ranked among the top eight hitters in the ACC. UNC's balanced offensive attack features seven regulars with at least 25 RBI, including four players with at least 33 RBI.
Ackley, who is a career .478 hitter (11-23) in six games against Miami, was honored as a midseason All-America by Baseball America last week. Additionally, catcher Mark Fleury was added to the watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, presented to the nation's to catcher. Relievers Colin Bates and Brian Moran were also included the midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List by the NCBWA. This honor goes to the nation's top relief pitcher.
On the mound, the Tar Heel pitching staff has totalled an NCAA-best 393 strikeouts - 43 more than any team in the ACC - and is holding the opposition to a .243 average. The weekend rotation of
Alex White,
Adam Warren and
Matt Harvey has combined to win 61 games in Carolina Blue. Both White and Warren rank among the top 10 in school history in wins.
Miami improved to 26-10 with a victory over FAU Tuesday. The Hurricanes lost two of three at Clemson last weekend and are 11-7 in league play. Miami owns a .297 team average with 40 home runs and 37 steals. Scott Lawson leads all regulars with a .341 average, and Yasmani Grandal (10 HR, 27 RBI) and Jason Hagerty (8 HR, 37 RBI) are the Canes' top run producers.
The Hurricanes own a 4.51 staff ERA. LHP Chris Hernandez (4-2, 5.89), RHP David Gutierrez (2-4, 3.63) and LHP Iden Nazario (4-1, 6.45) comprise the weekend rotation. Relief ace Kyle Bellamy is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA in 25 2/3 innings.
