SHU-UNC Series Preview

[JohnGwaltney]

BY UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

CHAPEL HILL --- No. 6 North Carolina opens the 2015 baseball season Friday at 2 p.m. when the Tar Heels host Big East foe Seton Hall in the first of a three-game set at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina, which earned an NCAA tournament bid for the 13th consecutive year a season ago, will hand junior right-hander Trent Thornton the ball on Friday before concluding the series with a doubleheader beginning Saturday at 11 a.m.


AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 0-0, Seton Hall 0-0
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked No. 6 by D1Baseball, No. 14 by the NCBWA, No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll, No. 17 by Perfect Game and Baseball America and No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball. Seton Hall is unranked.
TV: All three games will be streamed live on GoHeelsTV.
On The Web: GoHeels.com • Twitter: @DiamondHeels, @CoachFox30 | @SHUBaseball


UNC-SETON HALL SERIES HISTORY
• North Carolina is 55-11 all-time against Seton Hall.
• The Pirates a familiar February opponent - they have visited Chapel Hill 12 times since Fox took over at UNC in 1999.
• Seton Hall last won a series against Carolina in 2002 when the Pirates won two of three to open the season. In the Fox era, UNC is 32-3 against the Hall with the last loss coming in 2011.


OPENERS UNDER FOX
• North Carolina is 15-1 in season openers since Mike Fox took over as the head coach in 1999.
• Carolina suffered its first loss in an opener under Fox last season when the Tar Heels dropped a 7-4 decision at the College of Charleston.
• Friday marks the second time in three seasons UNC is opening the season at home against Seton Hall. The Tar Heels took two games from the Pirates in 2013, winning 1-0 in the opener before exploding for a 17-2 win in game two.

This post was edited on 2/12 9:56 PM by JohnGwaltney

 

[DF1972]

Pitching strong as UNC seeks to bounce back
Feb. 12, 2015 @ 09:42 PM

Brooke Pryor


CHAPEL HILL -
Some of the members of the North Carolina baseball team would rather pretend that last season didn't happen.
The Tar Heels, No. 17 in Baseball America's preseason poll, have had a traditionally strong baseball program, but last year's 35-27 season went down as a bit of a blip in the record books.
"I don't think there's a real focus on last year," junior Skye Bolt said. "Nobody really talks about last year. The freshmen guys don't know the camaraderie or lack thereof that there was last year. And it's kind of like last year didn't happen and that's a great thing. Last year's out of sight, out of mind."
UNC barely made the ACC tournament, squeaking past N.C. State in a play-in game before dropping to the losers' bracket after a loss to Florida State in the next game. In the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels went to the Gainesville Regional, but ultimately fell short of reaching the Super Regionals.
No one problem doomed UNC. The team had a solid starting pitching rotation with Trent Thornton, Benton Moss, Zac Gallen and Reilly Hovis and decent bullpen to back it up. The Tar Heels also had top-notch hitters in Michael Russell, who batted .339 and Landon Lassiter (.305).
But the team struggled to put it all together. When the pitching staff had a good afternoon, the offense couldn't seem to give run support. When the bats heated up, the pitching staff couldn't seem to lock in from the mound.
In the preseason, the Tar Heels have worked to correct those problems and get the team back on track.
A big part of playing past last season will come from the infusion of freshmen talent. Though the MLB draft ravaged coach Mike Fox's incoming class, the Tar Heels still brought in Baseball America's No. 6 freshmen class, including right-handed pitcher J.B. Bukauskas and lefty Hunter Williams.
"We've got a lot of freshmen that are coming in an going to make a big impact," said junior Trent Thornton who had a 2.73 ERA last season. "The team is gelling really well. As far as team chemistry goes, it's a lot better than it was last year."
The mix of freshmen and returning players gives this year's squad the right mix of guys to be successful, Bolt said.
"Certainly the talent level is there," said Bolt, whose batting averaged dipped to .257 last season after a stellar freshman campaign. "There's a junior heavy class. We've got three fantastic seniors that are keeping everyone in line and spearheading the charge, but the junior guys get it. Some of the sophomores have a really advanced approach to the game and a mature mindset. It's the right combination."
The strength of this year's squad is undoubtedly on the mound. The Tar Heels return their entire weekend staff in Moss, Gallen and Thornton, and they return Chris McCue, a promising closer who missed the entire season from surgery for a blood clot in his shoulder.
The Tar Heels brought in six freshmen pitchers, including Bukauskas and Williams, who have really impressed the players and coaching staff in the preseason.
For the season-opening Seton Hall series beginning today at 2 p.m., UNC will likely start Thornton Friday, and Moss and Bukauskas in games one and two of Saturday's doubleheader, respectively.
"We have a lot of pieces," Fox said. "We don't have a closer. We could use Reilly Hovis at any time during the game. We have the belief that most of the time, when the game is close, there is one critical time in the game where you better not let the other team open the door, like runs in basketball.
"You better call it, and you better stop it. That could be the fourth inning with bases loaded and we need a strikeout. We may go to Reilly Hovis or Chris McCue. The good news is, we have those guys. The better news is, if we don't use one of them, we've got another one of them, including (Zach) Rice and (Spencer) Traynor later on in the game."
While UNC is fairly solid on the mound, its infield defense isn't quite as organized. The Tar Heels lost shortstop Russell to the MLB draft and moved third baseman Lassiter to left field. With those moves, UNC will likely have at least three new faces in the infield positions.
"That's the biggest question mark of our team, is infield defense," Fox said. "We probably are going to have four different guys out there at third short, second and first, or at least three. We have to pick the ball up in the field and make plays especially if our pitching staff is up to par and they're not walking guys."
As is routine with any baseball team this time of year, the air around the Tar Heels is charged with excitement for the upcoming season. But Fox won't truly know what his team is capable of until it takes the field against its first opponent this afternoon.
"That's when you really find out," Fox said. "We can simulate as much as we possible can a game day. But until another team is over there in a different jersey and the scoreboard is on and the fans are in here, you really, truly don't know."


Pitching staff