2012 Chapel Hill Regional

Regional Schedules

1. North Carolina Tar Heels (6)

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

At-large bid from ACC

2012 record: 22-8, 44-14 (first in Coastal Division)

Head coach: Mike Fox (North Carolina, 1978)

Record at school: 633-260-1, 14 years

Overall record: 1,173-401-5, 29 years

Assistant Coaches: Scott Forbes, Scott Jackson, Robert Woodard

Team offense: .279 BA, 351 R, 19 HR, 66-85 SB

Top hitters: Chaz Frank (.303/0/37/14 2B/16-20 SB), Colin Moran (.362/3/34), Jacob Stallings (.299/4/28/23 2B)

Top pitchers: Kent Emmanuel (8-4, 2.03 ERA, 102 IP, 86 H, 22 BB, 99 K), Michael Morin (6-3, 17 SV, 0.83 ERA, 54.1 IP, 33 H, 17 BB, 48 K), Brandon Moss (6-2, 1.97 ERA, 73 IP, 59 H, 23 BB, 82 K), Hobbs Johnson (6-1, 1.37 ERA, 52.2 IP, 31 H, 24 BB, 64 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2011 (3-0 in Chapel Hill regional, 2-0 in Chapel Hill Super Regional, 1-2 in College World Series)

Notes: North Carolina has made the tournament for the 11th straight year and the 27th overall. The Tar Heels reached the College World Series for four consecutive years, from 2006 to 2009, becoming the first ACC team to reach Omaha in four straight seasons. The Tar Heels returned to Omaha last season but were eliminated by Vanderbilt. UNC is 15 -0 at home in regional action since 2006. Sophomore Colin Moran is the nephew of former Tar Heel and major leaguer B.J. Surhoff. Starting pitcher Kent Emmanuel, voted a Freshman All-American in 2011, has been even more outstanding as a sophomore (8-4, 2.03 ERA, 102 IP, 86 H, 22 BB, 99 K).

2. East Carolina Pirates
Greenville, North Carolina
At-large bid from Conference USA
2012 record: 35-22-1, 13-10-1 (sixth place in C-USA)
Head Coach: Billy Godwin (Atlantic Christian, 1986)
Record at school: 252-160-1, 7 years
Overall record: 514-245-1, 13 years
Assistant coaches: Nick Schnabel, Dan Roszel, Trent Whitehead (student
coach)
Team offense: .293 BA, 326 R, 28 HR, .380 SLG %, .366 OBP, 42-64 SB
Team pitching: 3.20 ERA, 523.2 IP, 480 H, 163 BB, 408 K
Top hitters: John Wooten (.341/8/38/48 R/10 2B/21 BB), Drew Reynolds (.328/2/22/7 2B), Corey Thompson (.319/4/38/37 R/13 2B), Tim Younger (.310/0/25/36 R/10 2B), Jay Cannon (.306/2/21/27 R), Zach Wright (.295/5/38/40 R/21 BB/11 2B/9-11 SB), Jack Reinheimer (.293/2/21/34 R/11 2b/8-9 SB), Chase McDonald (.262/4/29/15 R/5 2B)
Top pitchers: Andy Smithmyer (5-2, 1.54, 1 SV, 58.1 IP, 46 H, 22 BB, 63 K), Kevin Brandt (7-6, 1.85, 4 CG, 102.0 IP, 82 H, 26 BB, 66 K), Tanner Merritt (3-6, 2.91, 8 SV, 46.1 IP, 40 H, 10 BB, 32 K), Tyler Joyner (5-2, 3.17, 2 CG, 88.0 IP, 87 H, 11 BB, 65 K), Drew Reynolds (3-0, 3.33, 10 SV, 24.1 IP, 21 H, 10 BB, 19 K), Jeff Hoffman (3-1, 3.37, 1 SV, 69.1 IP, 53 H, 21 BB, 53 K), Jharel Cotton (8-2, 3.67, 68.2 IP, 73 H, 21 BB, 60 K)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2011 (2-2 at Charlottesville Regional)

Notes: ECU is in the NCAA tourney for the 12th time since 1999 and the 26th time overall. The Pirates owns a 4-3 series edge over St. John’s. ECU will make its second trip to Chapel Hill this season. The Pirates fell 1-0 in 10 innings to UNC on April 25. ECU struggled over the final three weeks of the season, losing six of nine contests. Head coach Billy Godwin is second in program history with 252 victories. Gary Overton tops the list with 427 in 13 seasons. Sophomore Drew Reynolds is one of 10 on the most recent watch list for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award. He is batting .328 with two homers and 22 RBI at the plate, while going 3-0 with 10 saves on the mound. Tim Younger had a batting average of .310, but on-base percentage of .413. He leads the Pirates with 29 walks (compared to 22 strikeouts) and is tied for the team lead by getting plunked seven times. ECU is 30-0 when leading after seven innings.

CBI Preseason Feature on Jeremy Beltz (Feb. 2)

3. St. John’s Red Storm

Queens, New York

At-large bid from Big East

2012 record: 18-9, 37-21 (tied for first in Big East)

Head coach: Ed Blankmeyer (Seton Hall, 1976)

Record at school: 586-348-3, 17 years

Overall record: same

Assistant coaches: Mike Hampton, Scott Brown, Brendan Monaghan

Team offense: .284 BA, 365 R, 25 HR, .371 SLG %, .376 OB %, 89-114 SB

Team pitching: 3.81 ERA, 515 IP, 488 H, 192 BB, 438 K

Top hitters: Matt Wessinger (.348/6/45/34-36 SB), Jeremy Baltz (.342/7/49/17-22 SB), Sean O’Hare (.333/3/40/13 2B), Frank Schwindel (.318/4/29), Kyle Richardson (.299/0/11)

Top pitchers: Stephen Rivera (5-0, 1.84, 4 SV, 49 IP, 38 H, 15 BB, 49 K), Sean Hagan (8-2, 2.58, 94.1 IP, 84 H, 21 BB, 63 K), Kyle Hansen (4-5, 3.44, 86.1 IP, 83 H, 26 BB, 100 K), Brendan Lobban (5-3, 3.51, 56.1 IP, 51 H, 17 BB, 42 K), James Lomangino (2-1, 4.62, 6 SV, 25.1 IP, 30 H, 8 BB, 35 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2011 (1-2 at Charlottesville Regional)

Notes: St. John’s won its seventh Big East title, the most in the history of the league. The Red Storm heads to the NCAA Tournament for the 34th time in program history. St. John’s is going to a regional for the third straight year and fifth in the past six seasons. The Red Storm went to the Charlottesville Regional each of the past two years. St. John’s is 3-4 all-time against East Carolina. The teams split two games in the Charlottesville Regional a season ago. The Red Storm will make its second trip to Chapel Hill this season. St. John’s lost to UNC 8-4 on Feb. 28. Head coach Ed Blankmeyer, an Academic All-American, was the starting second baseman for the 1974 and 1975 Seton Hall teams that advanced to the College World Series.

4. Cornell Big Red
Ithaca, New York
Automatic bid - won Ivy League Championship Series
2012 record: 14-6, 31-15-1 (first in Lou Gehrig Division)
Head coach: Bill Walkenbach (Cornell, 1998)
Record at school: 76-88-1, 4 years

Overall record: 145-130-1, 7 years
Assistant coaches: Tom Ford, Scott Marsh, Dan Tischler
Team offense: .283 BA, 269 R, 28 HR, .411 SLG%, .372 OB%, 55-75 SB
Team pitching: 3.65 ERA, 379.1 IP, 373 H, 130 BB, 243 K
Top hitters: Brian Billigen (.362/5/38/10 2B/13-15 SB), Frank Hager
(.305/3/20, 15 2B), Kevin Tatum (.301/0/17), Brandon Lee (.299/0/19, 12 2B),
Brenton Peters (.291/2/20), Chris Cruz (.260/12/35/8-10 SB).
Top pitchers: Connor Kaufmann (7-2, 4.00, 54.0 IP, 45 H, 16 BB, 31 K), Brian
McAfee (6-0, 3.19, 62 IP, 66 H, 8 BB, 41 K), Rick Marks (4-4, 3.09, 58.1 IP,
52 H, 23 BB, 27 K), Kellen Urbon (3-1, 9 SV, 0.51, 35.1 IP, 20 H, 13 BB, 21 K), Houston Hawley (2-1, 1 SV, 1.99, 22.2 IP, 24 H, 6 BB, 13 K).
Last NCAA appearance: 1977 (2-2 at Middletown, Conn. Regional)
Notes: Cornell's 31 victories are the most recorded in the program's 143-year history. ... Kellen Urbon was a unanimous selection as All-Ivy League First Team and Ivy League Rookie of the Year. He has set a program record for saves in a season (nine) and currently holds the program's lowest ERA in a season by a pitcher who has thrown more than 30 innings. ... Connor Kaufmann is an All-Ivy League First Team selection, having tossed the program's first solo no-hitter in nearly 32 years on April 1 against Dartmouth. ... Brian Billigen ranks in the top 10 in career program totals in batting average, hits, triples, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, slugging percentage and total bases. ... Chris Cruz has set a program record with 12 home runs this season. ... Brian McAfee is the first Cornell pitcher to be 6-0 since 1979. ... The Big Red is 5-0 in extra-inning games.