UNCG (20-18, 6-12 SoCon) at No. 10 North Carolina (29-12, 13-8 ACC)

Boshamer Stadium • Chapel Hill, N.C.
April 24, 2012 • Game 39 • 6 p.m
LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com

UNCG at North Carolina game notes 

Storylines:
• After sweeping a doubleheader from Southern Conference rival Davidson on Saturday, UNCG will step out of conference and tangle with No. 10 North Carolina for the second time in the 2012 campaign. UNCG will make the short trip down I-40 to battle the Tar Heels on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.

• Over the weekend, UNCG took two-of-three in a SoCon series with the Davidson Wildcats as the Spartans won their first conference series of the year. On Friday, UNCG starter Max Povse lasted only 2/3 of an inning and gave up three runs on three hits and three walks before turning it over to the bullpen. UNCG would trail by as many as four before tying the game at 5 with a four-run fourth inning. However, Davidson plated two runs in the top of the sixth and won game one, 7-5, as the Wildcats' Henry Sisson threw his second consecutive complete game. With the threat of rain in the area Sunday, officials made Saturday's contest a doubleheader. In game one, Sophomore Dylan Hathcock was in complete control as he went 7 2/3 innings while allowing three hits and a two-run home run. At one point, he retired 17 of 19 batters as he set a career high in strikeouts with seven. Three different Spartans collected RBI in the 4-2 victory as Davidson's Ryan Overcash went the distance. In game two, Davidson jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and pushed it to 5-3 before UNCG hung a five-spot on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Thomas Troelstrup and Christian Wolfe collected three RBI apiece and Zach Furl picked up the win as Jonathan Jones earned his first save of the year as UNCG won 8-6.

• Collecting at least one hit in all three games over the weekend, Zach Leach extended his hitting streak to 14 games. The junior is batting .375 (21-for-56) during the streak and is slugging .500. Leach has seven multi-hit games and has scored 10 runs.

• With the win in game one on Saturday, UNCG avoided going below .500 for the first time all year as it entered the game with an 18-18 record.

• North Carolina leads the overall series, 16-4, over the Spartans. The two teams met earlier in the season on March 13 and the Tar Heels saw their record improve to 14-2 after a 5-1 victory. The Tar Heels held UNCG to one run in front of a crowd of 2,726. North Carolina has won the last seven games in the series and has not allowed UNCG to score more than three runs in any of those contests. UNCG last defeated North Carolina, 7-6, on April 18, 2006. The Tar Heels are undefeated at home against the Spartans.

• Over the weekend, North Carolina dropped two-of-three to Georgia Tech in ACC play. The Yellow Jackets trounced the Tar Heels, 11-4, on Friday. Georgia Tech took an early 4-0 lead and never looked back. On Saturday, the two teams split a doubleheader. North Carolina put a dozen runs on its way to a 12-6 victory in game one. Both offenses were held at bay in the rubber match, but Georgia Tech scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to secure a 4-2 victory and the series win.

• UNCG is 1-2 on the year against ACC opponents with its lone victory coming against Duke, 4-3, on April 10. On the other hand, the Tar Heels are a perfect 4-0 against Southern Conference opponents, including two wins against Elon.

• UNCG has smoked its opponents in the fourth and fifth innings by outscoring the opposition by 33 runs, 75-42. However, luck hasn't sided with the Spartans when it comes to the ninth inning as opponents are outscoring UNCG by 20 runs, 26-6, in the frame.

• The Tar Heels will be led by Jacob Stallings, who has accumulated a team-high 29 RBI, 74 total bases and 16 doubles and is slugging .471. Stallings is tied for the team lead with 46 hits and four home runs. He sits second on the team with 157 at-bats and has started all 41 contests for North Carolina. He is second on the team with 31 runs scored and third on the team with 24 walks. The Tar Heels' Colin Moran leads the team with a .389 batting average (35-for-90) and has driven in 24 runs in only 22 games on the season.  

• Michael Morin paces the pitching staff for North Carolina with a 1.14 era in 39 1/3 innings of work. He has struck out 34 batters while only walking 14 and opponents are hitting a bleak .201 against him. Morin has allowed only seven extra-base hits and has amassed four wins on the year and leads the team with 10 saves.

• Like last year, the Spartans are thriving on "small ball" and currently lead the nation with 67 sacrifice bunts on the season. Cambric Moye leads the team with 13 while Kris Richards and Bobby Martin each have nine. Wolfe and Troelstrup have chimed in with eight each.

• It has been a tale of two halves for the Spartans in the home run department. UNCG sent 23 balls over the fence in the first half of the season (18 games), but has only collected 10 dingers in its last 20 contests.

- UNCG -