April 7, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Third-ranked North Carolina closes an 11-game home stand at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex against Elon and North Carolina A&T this week. The Tar Heels (25-6) will host the Phoenix (25-7) at 6 p.m. Tuesday and the Aggies (12-18) at 6 p.m. Wednesday before hitting the road for a three-game set at Clemson this weekend.

Carolina owns a 24-7 series lead against Elon, including a pair of 5-1 victories in 2007. The Tar Heels are 1-1 in two all-time meetings with A&T, but the teams have not met since a 16-3 UNC win in 1996.

Each Monday, TarHeelBlue.com will take a look back at the previous week's on the diamond before moving on to another week of baseball action.

NORTH CAROLINA WEEKLY RESULTS:
Record: 25-6, 10-4 ACC
April 1: #3 North Carolina 4, UNC Greensboro 1
April 2: #3 North Carolina 7, Appalachian State 0
April 4: #3 North Carolina 8, #14 Georgia Tech 1
April 6: #3 North Carolina 10, #14 Georgia Tech 4
April 6: #14 Georgia Tech 4, #3 North Carolina 1

NOTING THE WEEK OF MARCH 31-APRIL 6:
• Third-ranked North Carolina won its fifth Atlantic Coast Conference weekend series of the season by taking two of three from No. 14 Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels have won their last nine regular season three-game series, including eight in ACC play.

• The Tar Heels, who are 25-6 on the season, have posted the exact same record through 31 games in four of the last five years. The lone exception since 2004 was a 26-5 start last season.

• Carolina's pitching staff was dominant last week with at least 11 strikeouts in all five games. The Tar Heels finished the week with 67 strikeouts to just 19 walks and own a 329-to-110 strikeout-to-walk ratio for the season. After posting a 1.80 ERA last week, UNC continues to lead the ACC with a 2.25 staff mark and ranks among the national leaders. They also lead the league with 10.57 strikeouts per nine innings.

• Senior third baseman Chad Flack became the Tar Heels' leader in career base hits during Sunday's doubleheader with Georgia Tech. Flack was 2-for-4 with two RBI in game one to tie Chad Prosser's record of 291 and then broke the five-year-old mark with a single to right in the sixth inning of game two. The record-setting hit also extended Flack's current hitting streak to 14 games, which matches his career best. With 292 career base hits, Flack ranks 21st in ACC history.

In the UNC record book Flack also ranks second in at-bats (910), third in doubles (54), home runs (40), RBI (193) and total bases (478) and sixth in runs (183).

• Second baseman Kyle Seager led Carolina last week by batting .526 (10-19) with seven RBI and three doubles. The Kannapolis, N.C., native had four multi-hit games and extended his career-best hitting streak to 27 games, which ranks as the fourth longest in school history. He went 2-for-4 with two RBI in Tuesday's win over UNC Greensboro and matched a career high with three RBI on three hits in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader against the Jackets.

Seager raised his season average to .405, which is third in the ACC, and leads the league with 19 doubles and 40 RBI. Seager's doubles total also leads the nation and is just seven off the UNC single-season school record.

• In addition to Seager's 27-game hitting streak, Chad Flack (14 games) and Tim Fedroff (11 games) are in the midst of career-best hitting streaks. Flack hit .381 (8-21) with a homer and five RBI last week, while Fedroff batted .450 (9-20) with four RBI.

• Sophomore right-hander Alex White fired seven shutout innings to lead the Tar Heels past No. 14 Georgia Tech 8-1 Friday. The Greenville, N.C., native held the Yellow Jackets to just five hits and one walk, while striking out eight. White improved his record to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.93, which is third in the ACC, with his second straight victory. He has 19 strikeouts over his last two starts and now owns 43 Ks on the season to just 12 walks in a team-high 37 1/3 innings.

• Junior right-hander Adam Warren improved to 5-0 this season and 18-0 in his career with 5 1/3 solid innings, which included seven strikeouts, in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. Warren's 18 consecutive wins are the most by a Tar Heel since Scott Bankhead won the final 20 decisions of his career over the 1983-84 seasons.

• Sophomore left-hander Brian Moran allowed just one hit over 4 1/3 shutout innings and picked up 10 of the 13 outs he recorded via strikeout for the week. Over his last four outings, Moran has fanned 14 of the 18 batters he has faced. For the season, Moran has 32 strikeouts to just four walks and sports a 0.48 ERA over 18 2/3 innings.

• Senior right-hander Rob Wooten struck out seven in 3 2/3 innings of relief to give him a 33-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 23 1/3 innings.

• Freshman right-hander Patrick Johnson improved to 3-0 with 5 1/3 shutout innings against Appalachian State April 1. He matched career high with seven strikeouts and held the Mountaineers to just four hits.