University of North Carolina Athletics Diamond Heels Head To Charlotte To Face South Carolina
Diamond Heels Head To Charlotte To Face South Carolina
April 9, 2024 | Baseball
North Carolina travels to Charlotte on Tuesday to take on border state foe South Carolina at Truist Field in its yearly contest versus the Gamecocks at the home of the Charlotte Knights. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will stream on ACCNX.
UNC has won four of the previous seven games against the Gamecocks played at Truist Field, but has lost three of the last four, including each of the last two. The Tar Heels were shut out in last year’s meeting, 5-0. North Carolina holds a 68-38 lead in the all-time series.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS
South Carolina is 22-10 on the season with a 6-6 SEC record. The Gamecocks are slashing .270/.426/.480 as a team with 50 home runs. Ethan Petry leads UofSC with a .318 batting average, 13 home runs and 31 RBIs. Cole Messina has 10 home runs and 30 RBIs. The Gamecocks have a team ERA of 4.37.
Pitching Matchups
Tuesday | 7 ET (ACCNX)
UofSC RHP Dylan Eskew (2-2, 4.83 ERA)
Carolina LHP Folger Boaz (3-1, 5.89 ERA)
LAST TIME OUT
UNC finished off its series at Virginia with a 12-7 win on Saturday. Parks Harber homered and drove in four runs, going 3-for-5. Harber hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh to break a 6-6 tie, and freshman Luke Stevenson delivered a two-run home run to put the Tar Heels ahead 9-6. Matt Poston picked up the win, tossing a season-high 3.1 innings out of the bullpen.
POLL BUSINESS
The Tar Heels were ranked inside the top 15 in each of the five major polls this week. UNC came in 13th in the D1 Baseball and NCBWA rankings and 14th in Baseball America.
GETTING OFFENSIVE
North Carolina has one of the top offenses in the country, ranking among the top 25 NCAA Division I teams in seven categories: hits, scoring, base on balls, home runs, slugging percentage, home runs per game, and batting average.
POWER SURGE
The Tar Heels have belted 35 home runs over the last 12 games, accounting for 62.5 percent of their season total. UNC hit just 21 home runs in its first 20 games.
HARBER HEATING UP
Senior Parks Harber has found his power stroke. The Atlanta native has hit 10 home runs and has driven in 24 runs in the last 11 games. He has hit safely in nine consecutive games with seven multi-hit games during the streak.
RISING NUMBERS
Over the past month, senior Anthony Donofrio has raised his batting average 50 points and has hit safely in a season-long nine consecutive games.
RBI MACHINES
Redshirt sophomore Casey Cook ranks second in the ACC and seventh nationally in RBIs with 48. Luke Stevenson has driven home 15 runs in the last five games. Alberto Osuna has driven in 38 runs this season.
ALL I DO IS WIN
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Matthew Matthijs has made 18 appearances this season and owns an 11-1 record, most wins among all NCAA Division I pitchers.
