CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina will host Florida State at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex this weekend in a meeting of two of the nation's top teams. With a combined 70 victories on the season, both the Tar Heels (36-7, 16-4 ACC) and Seminoles (34-5, 18-3 ACC) hold the nation's No. 2 ranking in at least one of the major polls. UNC and FSU will meet at 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

Jones Angell and Adam Lucas will have the call of all three games for the Tar Heel Sports Network. TarHeelBlue.com, AM-1360 WCHL (Chapel Hill), 850 The Buzz (Raleigh) and AM-1150 WBAG (Burlington) will carry all three games. A webcast of all three games will be available live and on-demand through ACC Select.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Tar Heels and Seminoles split the No. 2 and No. 3 national rankings. Carolina is ranked second by Baseball America, while FSU is rated No. 2 in the other three major polls.

SENIORS HONORED SUNDAY: North Carolina's six seniors - Mike Facchinei, Chad Flack, Kyle Shelton, Tyler Trice, Seth Williams and Rob Wooten - will be honored prior to Sunday's game with Florida State. This group has led the Tar Heels to the pinnacle of college baseball with three NCAA appearances, two College World Series runner-up finishes and a total of 188 wins to just 57 losses since 2005.

TAR HEEL TRENDS: Carolina leads the nation with 36 wins and its 147 wins over the last three seasons tops the country ... Three of the five teams with 33-plus wins in 2008 hail from the ACC ... The Tar Heels have won 25 of their last 30 games and 16 of 19 in ACC play ... Carolina is the only team in the ACC to rank among the league's top three in batting and ERA ... Carolina's 2.07 ERA also leads the nation and it tops the country with 444 strikeouts ... The Tar Heels have allowed three or more earned runs just five times in the last 40 games ... Seven UNC regulars are hitting .300 or better and eight Tar Heels own 23-plus RBI ... UNC has already stolen more bases (54) this season than it did in 73 games a year ago (47) ... 2B Kyle Seager shares the national lead with 21 doubles and tops the ACC with 60 RBI ... 13 of the 16 pitchers that UNC has used this season own an ERA of 2.39 or below ... Junior RHP Adam Warren is unbeaten in 19 collegiate decisions and will go for win No. 20 Saturday ... Senior 3B Chad Flack has established school records for career hits and at-bats over the last three weeks ... Sophomore OF Tim Fedroff hit for the cycle April 15 at UNC Greensboro.

SERIES HISTORY: The Tar Heels trail their all-time series with the Seminoles, 23-56, but the teams have split their last six regular season meetings. Carolina has enjoyed recent success at home against FSU, winning each of the last three series and seven of the last nine meetings in Chapel Hill. Tenth-year head coach Mike Fox is 11-21 in his career versus the Seminoles but owns an 8-4 mark at home.

RECENT HISTORY VS. FLORIDA STATE: Dustin Ackley hit .364 (4-11) with a home run vs. FSU a year ago ... Chad Flack owns a .319 average (15-47) with three homers and eight RBI in 11 career games in the Seminoles ... Seth Williams owns a team-high .407 average (11-27) with four RBI in 11 games ... Tim Federowicz has seven RBI but is just 4-for-24 in seven career games vs. Florida State.

SCOUTING THE SEMINOLES: Paced by catcher Buster Posey, who is batting .483 with 11 home runs and 46 RBI, Florida State brings a .352 team average into this weekend's series in Cary. Six regulars are batting more than .362 for the Seminoles. On the mound, FSU sports a 3.85 staff ERA. LHP Matt Fairel (8-1, 3.09) and RHPs Geoff Parker (3-1, 3.37) and Elih Villanueva (4-1, 4.05) are scheduled to start. Defensively, Florida State has committed 67 errors in just 39 games for a .955 fielding percentage.

UNC ON TOP STREAK SINCE 2002: Winners of 11 straight games, Carolina is on its longest winning streak since it won 13 straight from March 13-30, 2002. The Tar Heels current 11-game streak is tied for the third longest active streak in the nation.

HEELS OFF TO BEST START SINCE `83: At 36-7, the Tar Heels have matched the 1983 squad for the best record through 43 games in school history. That season, UNC went 40-7 before winning just two of its final five games to finish with a 42-10 record.

ACKLEY, SEAGER ON HOWSER LIST: Sophomores Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager were both named to the watch list for the 2008 Dick Howser Trophy, which was announced Thursday by the NCBWA. Ackley is batting .374 with seven home runs, 32 RBI, 54 runs and 14 steals. Seager leads the ACC and is among the nation's top two with 60 RBI and 21 doubles to go along with a .389 average and eight homers.

PITCHING BETTERING 2006 & 2007: Despite losing a pair of first-round picks, the program's all-time winningest pitcher and an All-America closer off the last two teams, Carolina's pitching staff has not missed a beat this season and leads the nation with a 2.07 earned run average and 444 strikeouts through 43 games. This ERA is nearly three-quarters of a run better than the 2.77 mark at this point in the season last year. The 2006 staff logged a 3.24 ERA through 43 games.

DOMINANT STRETCH ON THE MOUND: Since a loss to No. 20 Coastal Carolina March 11, Carolina has been dominant on the mound to the tune of a 1.68 staff ERA over a 30-game stretch. In 274 innings over this run, the Tar Heels have struck out 312 batters and issued only 114 walks. UNC has allowed more than three earned runs just five times since the season-opening series at Florida Atlantic, which is a span of 40 games.

FLACK ON TRACK FOR RECORD: Senior Chad Flack enters the weekend with 242 career games played and will fittingly break Chad Prosser's record of 244 Sunday on Senior Day with three starts this weekend. Already UNC's career leader in hits and at bats, Flack has played in 178 straight games since March 1, 2006.

RECORD VS. THE RANKED: With a 5-2 mark against teams ranked in one of the four major polls this season, the Tar Heels have improved their record over the last three seasons to 46-24 against nationally ranked opponents. As Carolina has made a jump on the national scene over the past two years, its record versus the nation's best has vastly improved.

Carolina's Record Against Ranked Opponents
Year	Record		NCAA Finish
2005	3-10		Regionals
2006	19-12		CWS Finalist
2007	22-10		CWS Finalist
2008	5-2		???

CAROLINA THIRD IN THE RPI: The Tar Heels appear to be heading down the right path for hosting a third straight regional, as they were ranked No. 3 in Wednesday's release of the first official NCAA Ratings Percentage Index. UNC was one of five teams from the Carolinas in the top 11. The RPI is used by the NCAA as one of the factors for determining seeding and host sites for the postseason.

TOPS IN THE NATION OVER 2006-08: While UNC's NCAA-best 36 wins this season are certainly impressive, its 147 victories over the last three years also lead the country. Carolina and Rice are the only teams in the country to win at least 50 games in each of the last two seasons.

Total Wins 2006-08
Team	        2006	2007	2008	Total
North Carolina	54	57	36	147
Rice 	        57	56	32	145
Wichita State	46	53	31	130
Florida State	44	49	34	127
Virginia 	47	45	32	124

BULLPEN SPELLS RELIEF: What was a question mark entering the season has quickly become a strength, as Carolina's bullpen sports a 1.35 ERA, an 11-2 record and seven saves through 43 games. Of the 15 hurlers to work in relief, only two part-time relievers own ERAs over 2.38 out of the bullpen. All six relievers with 10 or more appearances sport ERAs of 1.86 or less. Additionally, the UNC bullpen has walked just 73 batters to 230 strikeouts in 186 innings. The pen has been extremely effective over the Tar Heels' 11-game winning streak with just three earned runs allowed over 48 innings for a miniscule 0.56 ERA.

SEAGER CLEANING UP: With classmates Tim Fedroff (.467 OBP) and Dustin Ackley (.479 OBP) usually on base in front of him, sophomore second baseman Kyle Seager has made the most of his RBI opportunities. After driving in 30 runs all last season, Seager has doubled his RBI output this season with an ACC-leading 60 runs driven in. This total also ranks second in the nation behind only Arizona State's Ike Davis with 62.

STRIKEOUTS SPELL SUCCESS: In addition to leading the nation in ERA, the Tar Heels entered the week as the NCAA leader in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.3. Carolina has tallied 24 double-digit strikeout games this season, including 11 in the last 17 outings. With 444 Ks through 43 games, the Tar Heels are on pace to smash their school record of 543 strikeouts in 69 games in 2006.

OPPONENTS' LONG BALL DROUGHT: Carolina's pitching staff has not allowed a home run over its last 14 games. The Tar Heels have surrendered just 13 long balls this season, only eight of which have come after the season-opening series at Florida Atlantic.

CYCLE FOR FEDROFF: Right fielder Tim Fedroff became the first Tar Heel in recent memory to hit for the cycle April 15 at UNCG. Fedroff, who was 4-for-4 with two walks, three runs and three RBI, tripled in the first, doubled in the second and belted a two-run homer in the five-run fourth inning. After a sixth-inning walk, the Flagtown, N.J., product beat out an infield single in the eighth to complete the cycle. Fedroff also hit for the cycle once in high school.

FRIDAY NIGHT WHITE: The ACC's leader in ERA at 1.99, sophomore right-hander Alex White has been dominant since returning to the Friday spot in the rotation five weeks ago at Maryland. After his brief stint in the bullpen due to an injury to Rob Wooten, White is 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA over his last 30 2/3 innings. The Greenville native has 33 strikeouts to just 15 walks over this five-start stretch.