June 21, 2008

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2008 College World Series vs. LSU, June 19, 2008

TEAM NOTES
• With Friday's win over LSU, the Tar Heels advance to face Fresno State Saturday in a second straight elimination game. Carolina is 5-1 in elimination games over the last two seasons.

• UNC will be the home team against the Bulldogs Saturday and must top Fresno State twice to advance to the championship series for the third straight season.

• Behind strong outings from five pitchers, the Tar Heels held LSU to just four hits, which matched a season low for the Tigers.

• With two wins over LSU in Omaha, Carolina improved to 7-1 against the Southeastern Conference in its last three NCAA Tournaments.

• The Tar Heels' 53 wins rank as the third most in program history. Carolina has posted its top three win totals over the last three seasons and leads the nation with 164 wins in 2006-08. UNC is the only team to win 50-plus games in each of the last three years.

• Tim Federowicz's grand slam was the third of the season for the Tar Heels and first since Tim Fedroff and Chad Flack connected on grand slams at Maryland March 23.

• After playing three consecutive errorless games, UNC has committed three errors over the last two CWS contests.

• Carolina improved to 10-6 over its last three CWS appearances and 12-14 in seven trips to Omaha.

• The Tar Heels are now 72-51 all-time in 23 trips to the NCAA Tournament. Mike Fox is now 37-19 in nine trips to the postseason.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Tim Federowicz's game-winning grand slam in the top of the ninth was the first of his career. It was also his sixth career NCAA Tournament home run and third career CWS home run. Federowicz's last homer in Omaha came in the 2006 championship series against Oregon State.

• Tim Federowicz's grand slam was the first in the College World Series since David Coffey of Georgia hit one in 2001.

• Tim Federowicz drove in five runs for his fourth career game with five-plus RBI. He now has 175 career RBI to rank eighth in school history.

• Dustin Ackley matched his career high for the ninth time with four hits against LSU. In the process, he equaled the Carolina CWS record of four hits in a game set by Tim Federowicz and Chad Flack in 2006. Ackley has hit safely in 11 straight games and is batting .500 (18-36) in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

• Dustin Ackley singled and scored in the first inning to set a UNC school record with his 81st run of the season, surpassing Adam Greenberg's 80 runs in 2002. Ackley continued a trend of jump-starting the Tar Heel offense in the postseason, as he has scored a first-inning run in five of the Tar Heels' eight NCAA Tournament games. He also scored on Federowicz's grand slam to give him a UNC-record 82 runs on the year.

• Tim Fedroff extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games and drove in his 12th run of the postseason with a first-inning RBI double. His 71 RBI on the season are eighth in school history, while his 77 runs scored are tied for fourth. Fedroff is batting a team-best .529 (18-34) in the NCAA Tournament in 2008.

• Both Dustin Ackley and Tim Fedroff have 111 hits on the season to rank third all-time at Carolina and second nationally behind Florida State's Buster Posey.

• Chad Flack drove in a run for the fourth straight game with his bases-loaded walk in the first. He now has 210 career RBI, which ranks third in school history and is four off the record.

• Chad Flack now has 67 career College World Series at-bats and will tie the CWS record of 68 set by Daryl Arenstein of USC 1970-73 in his next at-bat.

• Alex White made his third relief appearance of the season (first since March 15) and fourth of his career Friday against LSU. In seven career innings out of the bullpen, White has seven strikeouts and has allowed no runs on just three hits.

• Alex White improved to 12-3 with the win - his second of the CWS against LSU. The 12 wins are tied for third on the Tar Heels' single-season list. White has posted four of Carolina's seven postseason wins and owns a 2.52 ERA in 25 innings.

• Right-hander Rob Wooten, who struck out two over a scoreless inning, made his ninth CWS appearance in the Tar Heels' last 10 games in Omaha. He also pitched in his 42nd game in 2008, which ranks third all-time at Carolina. His 108 career appearances rank fifth in school history. Wooten owns a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 innings in this year's tournament.

• Left-hander Brian Moran, who allowed two runs and struck out three in 1 1/3 innings Friday, made his 38th appearance to move into a tie for fifth place on UNC's single-season list. He has pitched in all three CWS games for the Tar Heels.

• Redshirt freshman right-hander Colin Bates went 2 2/3 scoreless innings in his CWS debut. He was the first pitcher the Tar Heels used out of the bullpen other than Rob Wooten and Brian Moran in three games in Omaha.

• Veterans Tim Federowicz, Chad Flack and Seth Williams each started their 16th career game in Omaha Thursday. This trio has started every CWS game for Carolina over the last three seasons. Garrett Gore, who has made 15 CWS starts, is the only other player to play in each game.