No. 20 Miami Baseball Set for ACC Series at No. 10 UNC
April 21, 2011
Miami vs. UNC Series Notes in PDF Format 
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The 20th-ranked University of Miami baseball team gets back on the road this weekend, traveling to Chapel Hill for a much-anticipated ACC showdown with No. 10 University of North Carolina at Boshamer Stadium. The three-game series will be carried live on television by CSS, with the first game set for Friday, April 22, at 7 p.m.
Miami (25-12) enters the weekend after taking its fifth Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) series last weekend at Maryland, and is a winner in 11 of the last 12 games. The Hurricanes will look to snap a skid in Chapel Hill that dates back to 2005. UMiami has lost six consecutive in Chapel Hill, and has a tie (7-7) in a 10-inning affair in the third game of the 2005 series with the ACC curfew rule enforced at the time.
The Canes use sophomore second baseman Zeke DeVoss atop the order as he leads the team in batting average, hitting at a .323 clip entering the weekend. DeVoss leads the Canes in hits (42), runs scored (37), triples (2), walks (35) and stolen bases (25). His 25 steals also leads the league in that department.
DeVoss enters the UNC series working on a career-long nine-game hit streak, also leading the team in that category.
Junior Rony Rodriguez is second on the Hurricanes roster in batting average, now toting a .316 average with a team second-best 23 RBI on 36 hits and a team-leading six homers. Rodriguez also tops the Hurricanes in slugging percentage with a .579 average.
Classmate Nathan Melendres continues to swing a hot bat, hitting safely in nine of his last 11 contests, and chipping in with a .301 average at the dish. Melendres is tied for the team lead in doubles (10) and triples (2). He also sits second in steals, collecting 13 on 15 attempts this season.
Junior Preseason All-America selection Harold Martinez hits at a .303 clip for the Hurricanes, leading the team in RBI (30) with 40 hits and three homers. He has powered up in his last two home games, hitting home runs against Barry and Bethune-Cookman, respectively, and enters the UNC showdown with a seven-game hitting streak.
The addition of sophomore shortstop Stephen Perez back into the lineup has aided the Canes tremendously defensively, now allowing infielder Harold Martinez (who did play shortstop in high school at Braddock) to move back to first base – with Rodriguez returning to either the outfield or designated hitter position. Senior Chris Pelaez has also been reinserted into the lineup, seeing considerably more time at the DH position after a shoulder injury to begin the year. Pelaez has increased his average to .265 since the Florida series.
For many of the Hurricanes this will be their first trip to Chapel Hill, as a majority of the team is freshmen and sophomores.
All three games can be heard on the radio through WVUM 90.5 FM, the student voice for the Miami Hurricanes. The veteran crew of Justin Antweil and Scott Braun will have the calls from Chapel Hill.
Live stats for the games will be provided through Game Tracker at HurricaneSports.com. Fans can also join the live chat, provided by Cover It Live, by visiting HurricaneSports.com as well.
For more information on the University of Miami baseball team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. To follow the UM Baseball Team via twitter, please navigate to Twitter.com/CanesBaseball. You can also access the official UMiami Baseball blog at TheUBaseball.com.
Fans can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the Canes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
GAME 1: FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 7 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MIAMI – LHP Bryan Radziewski (6-2, 2.96) vs. UNC – RHP Patrick Johnson (6-1, 3.34)
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM
TV: CSS
TWITTER: HurricaneSports | CanesBaseball
GAME 2: SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MIAMI – RHP Eric Whaley (5-2, 3.00) vs. UNC – RHP Shane Taylor (2-2, 2.92)
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM
TV: CSS
TWITTER: HurricaneSports | CanesBaseball
GAME 3: SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 1 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MIAMI – RHP E.J. Encinosa (3-2, 2.45) vs. UNC – LHP Kent Emanuel (5-1, 2.86)
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM
TV: CSS
TWITTER: HurricaneSports | CanesBaseball
Miami Against North Carolina
The University of Miami leads the all-time series against the North Carolina Tar Heels by a margin of 22-20-1. Since arriving into the ACC in 2004-05, Miami is just 7-10-1 against the Tar Heels.
The Hurricanes snapped a series-long five-game losing skid to the Tar Heels last season in Coral Gables, using a three-game series sweep of North Carolina (April 16-18, 2010) at Alex Rodriguez Park.
The series sweep by the Hurricanes was the first time against UNC since the 1998 season when UMiami took all three games in Coral Gables, before dropping a contest and then winning an elimination game against the Heels in the NCAA Coral Gables Regional.
Scouting the North Carolina Tar Heels
North Carolina returns to ACC play after a midweek win over Coastal Carolina on Tuesday. The Tar Heels have won 19 straight games, and will look to join the 2005 squad as the only teams to win 20 straight home games in a single year. The Tar Heels are coming off a season in which they finished just 38-22, and one of the worst ACC seasons under head coach Mike Fox, ending the conference slate at 14-16.
The Tar Heels were swept a week ago in an Atlantic Coast Conference series against in-state rival NC State in Raleigh. The Heels have won eight of their last 12 games, including a series sweep of Clemson (April 1-3) and taking the final two games of a three-game set against Florida State (April 8-10) in Tallahassee.
UNC is led at the dish by third baseman Colin Moran holding a .359 average, adding a team-high matching 52 hits, team-high 12 doubles, seven home runs and 52 RBI. Moran is one of four Tar Heels batting above .300 on the season.
Batting just behind Moran is shortstop Levi Michael, hitting at a .341 clip with 34 RBI on 46 hits and a team third-best 36 runs scored. Michael leads the team in stolen bases with 12, and owns 34 walks with a .511 slugging percentage.
First baseman Jesse Wierzbicki (.336) and second baseman Tommy Coyle (.313) round out the top four hitters, statistically, for the Tar Heels.
Looking at the Pitchers for the Weekend
Miami will use freshman left-hander Bryan Radziewski on the mound to start the series Friday night against UNC’s right-handed senior Patrick Johnson. Radziewski enters as a winner in his last three starts, and works with a 6-2 record on the year, toting a 2.96 ERA. Meanwhile, UNC’s Johnson holds a 6-1 record and an ERA of 3.34 on the campaign.
On Saturday, it will be Miami sophomore right-hander Eric Whaley working in the second game of a series for the third consecutive week, while starting the series against Boston College. Whaley is 1-1 with a no-decision since moving from the Sunday starting spot, and uses a 5-2 record and an even 3.00 ERA on the campaign. The Tar Heels will throw freshman right-hander Shane Taylor in the second game, entering with a record of 2-2 and an ERA of 2.92.
In the series finale, Miami has tall right-handed sophomore E.J. Encinosa on the rubber, winning two consecutive after starting the year at 1-2. Encinosa picked up wins against Maryland and NC State, respectively, in the third game of each series after making the switch with Whaley. He owns a record of 3-2, and sits with an ERA of 2.45 on the campaign. North Carolina will toss its lone lefty of the weekend group in the form of freshman Kent Emanuel, holding a record of 5-1 against an ERA of 2.86.
With the exception of senior Patrick Johnson for North Carolina, both pitching staffs for the Canes and Tar Heels are relatively young, getting valuable experience in one of America’s toughest baseball conferences in the weekend slots.
