Sophomores show up in baseball season opener

It all starts with the sophomores.

That’s what North Carolina baseball coach Mike Fox believes. And they undoubtedly backed up his assertion in his team’s first series of the 2015 season this weekend.

UNC’s four starting sophomore players combined for 17 hits, 14 RBIs, nine runs and the team’s two lone home runs in the No. 15 Tar Heels’ three-game series sweep of Seton Hall.

“I think that’s gonna be the tell-tale sign of whether we’re gonna be a decent club this year,” said Fox after UNC’s 7-1 victory in game one. “Do your freshmen get better their sophomore year?”

They certainly did. And for a few, that improvement could be seen from the first at-bat.

In the bottom of the first inning of game one, right fielder Tyler Ramirez homered to right center, driving in two runs, to give UNC an early lead it would never look back from. Ramirez recorded just two home runs in 2014. But a year later, he's earned the respect of his coach, who penciled in his name at the No. 4, cleanup spot on the lineup card for all three games.

Fox's move paid off off for the team and Ramirez, who ended the series with a team-high six RBIs.

“I worked really hard in the offseason and the weight room, on my swing," Ramirez said. "So I think it’s gonna start paying off this year, power-wise.”

Three batters after Ramirez sent the ball over the fence and into the woods, sophomore designated hitter Joe Dudek stepped up to the plate. Seton Hall pitcher Luke Cahill threw three straight changeups at Dudek. Facing a 1-2 count, the designated hitter didn’t hesitate.

“That was the fourth changeup in a row,” Dudek said. “After the first couple, I was kinda looking for it and I just saw it early out of the hand and tried to put a good swing on it.”

Dudek might have had a little more preparation than Ramirez to send the ball over the right field wall. In 2014, Dudek tied a team-high with four home runs. During the summer, as a member of Wisconsin’s Madison Mallards, he won an unofficial Northwoods League Home Run Derby, beating Florida’s Peter Alonso and former six-time MLB All-Star Jose Canseco.

So maybe beating out the two-time American League home-run champion gave Dudek some confidence.

“If that’s what he thinks, I don’t care,” Fox said. “Joe hit that home run with two strikes, right? You wouldn’t have seen that last year.”

After UNC fell behind 1-0 early in game three, Dudek crushed the ball deep into the left center gap to spark the Tar Heels to a 9-5 win. With three hits, one double and a home run, Dudek leads the Tar Heel starters in slugging percentage. But of the sophomores, he didn’t have the best series.

Adrian Chacon did. The sophomore, who started two games at first base and one at catcher, batted .600 on the weekend with a team-high six hits.

Chacon’s performances, along with those of Ramirez, Dudek and the team’s one other sophomore starter, shortstop Wood Myers, made Fox nearly repeat himself after the series sweep.

That it all starts with the sophomores.

“The key to the improvement of your team from one year to the next, especially when your team needs to improve, is do your freshman get better as sophomores?” Fox said. “Our sophomores have improved. I think you saw evidence of that.”

sports@dailytarheel.com