Getting caught up with the Diamond Heels
Patrick Johnson (TarHeelBlue.com
Due to way too many things going on I been a bit lazy following the Diamond Heels, for that I apologize and promise to keep a much tighter reign on this part of UNC sports. The last time I had talked about head coach Mike Fox’ squad they were 7 and 1, having beaten Gardner-Webb. Now, as I pick up the pieces of this, the Diamond Heels are 12 and 3. How did they get here, meaning winning 5 more and losing twice in the last seven games? Well, Carolina hosted Michigan, beating them all three games by the final of 4 to 2, 7 to 6 and a third game rout of 9 to 1. That brought North Carolina to a 10-1 record, having having outscored the opposition 78-34. Then came the one game against William & Mary at Boshamer Stadium where something that hadn’t happen all year did, the Heels were shut out and lost a game where the other team scored just three runs against them. This is pretty telling since the team had averaged up to that game about seven runs scored while giving up, you guessed it, three. Meaning that the bats didn’t show up in a game where with just a couple of key hits would have won the game.
After that game came another one game series where North Carolina took on St. John’s. Here things came back to normal as the Heels outscored its opponent 8-2. This brings coach Fox’ club to a record of 11-2, with a three game series against Duke waiting for them. This is the first time the Tar Heels would play outside the friendly confine of Boshamer Stadium, but it did not see to bother them as the first game was a 21-9 shellacking. The Diamond Heels, ranked 11th in the country, were led by freshman outfielder Brian Goodwin, who had four hits (4 for 4 on the night to go with two walks) and five RBIs in this game. In this game the team had season high in runs (21) and hits (21), as junior righty Matt Harvey stayed perfect on the season with a 3 and 0 record. From what I read on the official site for UNC Athletics this was definitely a team effort with eleven players getting at least a hit (six with multiple hits) and eight bringing in runs (six with multiple RBIs). The 1-5 slots went 13 for 23, scoring 13 runs, driving in 15 to go with six walks and only striking out 3 times. With this performance the Heels go to 12 and 2 on the year (1-0 in the conference).
Today the scoring was once again pretty high, with the final score being 15 to 11, unfortunately it is the Blue Devils that had the high score. Once again it was a team effort with 10 different Heels having at least one hit (four having multiple hits), while seven at least one RBI (three with multiple RBIs) for Carolina. In all the team scored the eleven runs on a total of 16 hits and five walks, while striking out eight times. Infielders Tommy Coyle (freshman) and Levi Michael (sophomore) each posted three hits and two RBI to lead the Tar Heels. Once again the 1-5 slot did well going 11 for 23 with seven runs scored, seven RBIs, three walks and four K’s. What killed UNC in this one, as I have been saying could happen, was the number of players left on bases. The Heels left 13, while the Blue Devils only left 7. The 5th through 8th batter left nine players on the bases, and that’s just too many to win games in the long run. Freshman outfielder has now hit in 10 consecutive games, while senior infielder Ryan Graepel is one behind with a hit in nine straight game. Junior right hander Patrick Johnson took the loss and is now 2 and 2, giving up 6 runs (all earned) in 3.2 IP with six hits and two walks while striking out three.
Tomorrow is the rubber game between these two squads with the first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. EST at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Expect a recap of the game by tomorrow night.
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