June 21, 2008

A Hitting Machine

Ackley reaches base in all five plate appearances

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

OMAHA, Neb. – He was on base every time.

Dustin Ackley (right, photo courtesy of UNC Media Relations) hits leadoff for North Carolina. He reached base in all five plate appearances Friday against LSU as the Tar Heels survived the elimination game against the Tigers.

Ackley had four of the nine hits for the Tar Heels. He contributed to all three scoring innings for UNC. He had a leadoff single and scored in a two-run first. His base hit followed a leadoff walk to Ryan Graepel in the fifth, putting him in scoring position for Tim Federowicz’s RBI groundout that gave UNC a 3-1 lead.

After collecting four hits, he was intentionally walked in the ninth after Ryan Graepel’s one-out double and scored on Federowicz’s grand slam

Ackley matched his career high with four hits. It was the ninth time he registered four hits in a game. Ackley is now 7 for 14 (.500) in the College World Series. He raised his season average to .413.

“I think you saw why we think Dustin Ackley is the best player in America,” said UNC head coach Mike Fox. “He’s got 230 hits in two years at North Carolina. Absolutely incredible.”