(Editor's note: This page will be updated once at week at the first of each week through the ACC tournament, which starts May 21, and through the Tar Heels journey in the NCAA tournament, which starts May 30 and runs through June.)
The North Carolina Tar Heels won against Charlotte, High Point and Florida State this week before falling to the Seminoles in game two of a three-game series to break a 12-game win streak. The Heels, ranked No. 2 in the weekly Baseball America poll, came back to win 2-1 in 10 innings for a key ACC victory against Florida State. (4/28)
Kannapolis sophomore Kyle Seager singled in one run to tie it and moved the winning run into scoring position to lead the Heels to the 2-1 win which moved UNC to 38-8 and 18-5 in ACC play. Florida State remains on top of the Atlantic Division by three and a half games over N.C. State while the Heels are two and a half games behind nationally No. 1 ranked Miami in the Coastal Division. See the full ACC standings.
Carolina has no games this week as the student athletes take their final exams but the Heels end the season with nine games in 11 days, including a regular season-ending, three-game series at Miami.
The three remaining home games, played at Cary's USA Baseball Complex, are against non-conference foes: May 6 and 7 against North Florida and then May 13 vs. Winthrop. Each game begins at 6 p.m.
Carolina banged out a season-high 22 hits at Charlotte in a 17-0 shellacking that made the Heels the first team to 35 victories this season. Kyle Shelton had four hits and five pitchers combined for the shutout.
Against High Point, Tim Federowicz doubled, tripled and drove in three runs to lead Carolina to a 10-5 win.
The Heels got back into ACC action win a big 11-4 win over Florida State in the first game of that three-game series. The Heels trailed by three but rallied for 11 runs in the bottom of the eighth. Ten straight batters reached base and 10 of the 11 runs came with two outs in the inning. Shelton's three-run homer highlight the onslaught.
On Saturday, April 26, the largest crowd of the season (4,133) saw the Tar Heels lose to the Seminoles 13-5 to break a 12-game win streak. Florida State slapped Carolina pitching for 19 hits and the Tar Heels committed four errors. UNC pitcher Adam Warren, 6-1, suffered his first loss - not only of the season but of his three-year career with the Heels. Warren gave up five runs in less than three innings.
Carolina has not lost a three-game series this season, and it wouldn't be any different as the Heels took game three against Florida State 2-1 on Sunday. Trailing 1-0, Seager drilled a two-out single to left to score Shelton with the tying run in the seventh inning.
In the 10th, Seager singled Chad Flack to third. An intentional walk loaded the bases before UNC designated hitter Mark Fleury drew a base on balls to bring in the winning run.
"I didn't want to put a great deal of emphasis on this game today, but I think deep down I knew this was a huge game for us because of what we have to do the last two series at Virginia and at Miami," North Carolina coach Mike Fox said. "This was one we really needed."
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