2008 Cary Super Regional

 

North Carolina Tar Heels

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

At-large bid from ACC, 3-0 in Cary Regional

2008 record: 22-7, 49-12 (second in ACC Coastal)

Head coach: Mike Fox (North Carolina, 1978)

Record at school: 447-188-1, 11 years

Overall record: 447-188-1, 11 years

Assistant coaches: Chad Holbrook, Scott Forbes, Matt McCay

Team offense: .324 BA, 468 R, 55 HR, .492 SLG%, .400 OB%, 64/93 SB

Team pitching: 2.79 ERA, 10 SV, 552 IP, 457 H, 264 BB, 624 K

Top hitters: Dustin Ackley (.405/7/47/18-24 SB), Tim Fedroff (.402/12/67/20 2B), Kyle Seager (.357/9/70/27 SB), Kyle Shelton (.328/4/37/13 SB), Seth Williams (.309/7/38/18 HBP), Tim Federowicz (.304/4/39/19 2B), Mark Fleury (.286/3/25), Chad Flack (.279/6/43/17 2B), Garrett Gore (.277/2/35)

Top pitchers: Brian Moran (1-1, 2 SV, 1.83, 44.1 IP, 35 H, 13 BB, 65 K), Rob Wooten (6-2, 4 SV, 1.93, 51.1 IP, 33 H, 23 BB, 62 K), Alex White (9-3, 2.66, 81.1 IP, 62 H, 37 BB, 95 K), Adam Warren (8-1, 4.42, 71.1 IP, 75 H, 36 BB, 65 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2007 (3-0 in Chapel Hill Regional, 2-1 in Chapel Hill Super Regional, 4-1 in College World Series, 0-2 in CWS Championship Series)

Notes: UNC has been national runner-up each of the past two seasons. The Tar Heels are making their 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance. UNC is one of three teams to advance to the Super Regionals each of the past three seasons (Rice and Cal State Fullerton). All three reached Omaha each of the past two years. The Tar Heels hosted their fourth straight regional. UNC is the No. 2 national seed, its highest seed in school history. The Tar Heels are 34-13 all-time against Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers won 11-4 in Cary on March 11. UNC’s 2.79 ERA leads the country, as does its .227 opponent batting average and school record of 624 strikeouts. Tim Fedroff went 9 for 11 (.818) with eight RBI in being named Most Outstanding Player in the Cary Regional. Chad Flack owns school records for career hits, at-bats and games played. The six-man senior class has earned a school-record 201 victories. The previous mark was 162 wins by the class of 2003.

 

Coastal Carolina

Conway, South Carolina

Automatic bid – won Big South Tournament, 3-0 at Conway Regional

2008 record: 17-3, 50-12 (first in Big South)

Head coach: Gary Gilmore (Coastal Carolina, 1980)

Record at school: 507-275 (13 years)

Overall record: 760-377 (19 years)

Assistant coaches: Kevin Schnall, Brendan Dougherty, Drew Thomas

Team offense: .326 BA, 516 R, 96 HR, .533 SLG%, .420 OB%, 105/140 SB

Team pitching: 4.10 ERA, 559.2 IP, 563 H, 210 BB, 434 K

Top hitters: Scott Woodward (.368/7/45/30 HBP/42-50 SB), Dock Doyle (.366/16/72/22 2B), David Sappelt (.355/18/67/24 2B), Tommy Baldridge (.352/10/44/17 2B), David Anderson (.346/20/59/17 2B), Adam Rice (.341/8/43/13-20 SB), Tyler Bortnick (.340/6/38/15 2B)

Top pitchers: Joey Haug (7-0, 4 SV, 2.09, 81.2 IP, 64 H, 24 BB, 67 K), Nick McCully (10-2, 3 SV, 3.09, 87.1 IP, 77 H, 26 BB, 72 K), Bobby Gagg (6-2, 3.33, 81 IP, 86 H, 8 BB, 53 K), Pete Andrelczyk (6-1, 9 SV, 3.40, 45 IP, 42 H, 11 BB, 56 K), Cody Wheeler (6-0, 5.21, 65.2 IP, 61 H, 45 BB, 65 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2007

Notes: This is first appearance in the Super Regionals for the Chanticleers and marks the first time a Big South team has made the Super Regionals. Coastal has won 50 or more games in three of the past four years under Gary Gilmore. Gilmore played for the Chanticleers, stealing 69 bases in two years, and previously coached at USC Aiken. Tommy Baldridge, co-MOP of the Conway Regional with teammate David Anderson, had a huge three-run homer against Alabama to break a 10-10 tie in Coastal’s 13-10 win. Scott Woodward has 42 of the team’s 105 stolen bases and has walked 54 times and been hit 30 times for an OBA of .539. Dock Doyle slugs .681, and fellow bashers David Anderson (.671) and David Sappelt (.649) aren’t far behind. Junior Bobby Gagg has gone 22-5 in his Coastal career, winning 12 games a year ago. He has only eight walks in 81 innings. The Chants were 16-7 on the road and 30-4 at home this season. Nick McCully has bounced from starter to reliever to starter, going 17-5 with seven saves over the past two seasons.