UNC finishes at home with record 32nd win

UNC’s baseball team finished a season of rarities last weekend with a series victory (2-1) over Georgia Tech and the No. 5 seed in the ACC tournament.

After the Tar Heels (40-15-1, 17-10-1 ACC) won the second of three games against the ACC’s top-ranked team, a new record was established at Boshamer Stadium with 32 wins at home. The previous record for home wins, achieved in both 1993 and 2000, was 30.

Second baseman Greg Mangum, one of six seniors commemorated before the final home game Saturday, said the record was a testament to the team’s work ethic.

“To just come out here day in and day out and get the job done like we did this year is pretty special,” he said. “It shows what kind of team this is.”

UNC coach Mike Fox said the Heels should be honored by their achievement. “That’s a great accomplishment for our players,” he said.

During the opening game of the series, Chad Flack’s fifth-inning homer set the new UNC record for freshmen at 14. The previous record — 11 home runs by Drex Roberts in 1981 — was broken by teammate Seth Williams as well. He had 13 of his own during the regular season.

“There was definitely a friendly competition there,” Flack said. “But actually, we wanted to end it up on a tie.” Both players are in the top five for home runs in the ACC. “We could tell they had some power when they first got in here in the fall,” Fox said.

Flack isn’t the only freshman player to lead the Heels in a statistical category this year. Shortstop Josh Horton, who Fox initially thought would be batting at the bottom of the order, leads the team with a .376 batting average. Horton contributed with four hits in eight at-bats during the series, one of which became his third triple of the season.

“We have the most confidence in him than anybody up there in a clutch situation,” Fox said. Horton has been alternated between the second and fifth position in the batting order for most of the season. “They played well for us in some of the big games,” said Fox on the impact of the power-hitting freshmen.

After the Tar Heels defeated Ga. Tech 5-4 in the first game of the series, the opening pitch of the second game was thrown by a man better known for his expertise in a different sport — UNC men's basketball coach Roy Williams.

His ceremonial pitch, a high floater which resembled a jump shot rather than a fastball, elicited a roar of approval from the crowd. “(The baseball) felt a little smaller and the distance from the mound seemed a lot farther,” Williams said.

The game was stopped in the third inning because of Friday’s rainy weather and delayed until the following day. When play resumed Saturday at noon, the Heels beat the Yellow Jackets with a score of 7-6.

It was the first time since 2001 that UNC won a three-game series against Ga. Tech. The Tar Heels were unable to complete the sweep of the Yellow Jackets when they lost 8-1 in the final game on Saturday, which was preceded by the seven innings remaining from the previous game.

“We had two long days before this, waiting in the rain off and on; maybe it kind of got to us a little bit,” Flack said after the loss. “We just gotta look past this and be glad that we won the series.”

Fox said the two close victories over Ga. Tech should build the team’s confidence for the postseason. “We’ve played better defensively lately, which is encouraging for us,” he said. “Hopefully we can continue that down in the ACC tournament.

“They don’t have anything else to distract them except girls at this point.”

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