Chapel Hill Regional Preview

By Kenny Cook - May 30, 2007

Game 1: EAST CAROLINA PIRATES (39-21) versus WESTERN CAROLINA CATAMOUNTS (40-18)

This game will match relative upstart Western Carolina against frequent NCAA tournament participant East Carolina. The Catamounts from the western end of the state will use their hard-hitting offense against the more pitching-oriented guys from the eastern end of the state. The Catamounts have pounded out 81 home runs and have five players with 11 or more round-trippers. The pitching is less impressive, with a team ERA of 4.82 and 607 hits allowed in 515 innings. The Pirates have a more palatable team ERA of 3.83 but have only hit .286 compared to WCU's .322 team average. The Pirates won the only contest this year between the two, with a 3-2 victory back in March in the Keith LeClair Classic.

WESTERN CAROLINA CATAMOUNTS (Cullowhee, NC)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 11
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2003 Wilson, NC Regional (2-2)
At-large bid from Southern Conference; tied College of Charleston with best regular season conference record (20-7)
Results against Regional rivals: Lost 3-2 to East Carolina

Team Notes: The Catamounts beat such heavies as Georgia Tech, NC State, Clemson, and Ohio State during the 2007 season. They won 8 straight before losing their final 3 games, including both games in the Southern Conference Tournament (Citadel, Georgia Southern).
Last at-large bid was in 1994, when they were led by future East Carolina coach Keith LeClair in the Knoxville Regional. Current Coach Todd Raleigh was an assistant at both ECU and WCU under LeClair, who sadly passed away last July from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).
UNC fans likely won't extend the same love to WCU second baseman Kenny Smith that they did to the former Tar Heel and NBA star of the same name. This Kenny leads the boys from Cullowhee in batting average, home runs, RBI, and stolen bases. He is a transfer from UNC-Wilmington who competed with the Seahawks in last year's Chapel Hill Regional.
Pitcher Drew Saberhagen transferred to Western Carolina from the lovely shores of Malibu at Pepperdine, and is the son of former major league star Bret Saberhagen.

Team Stats/Leaders: BA .322, 81 HR, 67/93 SB ----- ERA 4.82, 515 IP, 607 H, 41 HR

2B Kenny Smith .396-18-79, 14 SB ------ Drew Saberhagen 8-1, 3.10
C Blake Murphy .377-15-63 ------------- Tyler Sexton 8-3, 4.34
OF Barrett Shaft .373-3-29 --------------- Greg Holland 4-3, 3.46, 10 saves, 31 appearances
3B Nick Liles .343-2-38;
1B John Ingram .330-11-61, 10 SB
OF Jonathan Greene .321-13-53
OF Steven Strausbaugh .285-12-52

EAST CAROLINA PIRATES (Greenville, NC)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 22
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2005 Tempe Regional (0-2)
At-large bid from Conference USA; runner up to Rice Owls in both regular season (14-9) and the tournament
Results against Regional rivals: Beat Western Carolina 3-2, lost to UNC 10-0 and 5-1

Team Notes: ECU is making its 8th NCAA tournament appearance in 9 years after missing last year. Although the Pirates had been hoping to host a regional themselves, their fans travel well and will bring a large and loud contingent to Chapel Hill- if they can find tickets. If not, they may be re-creating The Jungle along the outfield fence at Boshamer Stadium. UNC sold out the regional in one day, with Vanderbilt being the only other school to do so.

Team Stats/Leaders: BA .286, 64 HR, 83/109 SB ----- ERA 3.83, 534 IP, 522 H, 36 HR

SS Dale Mollenhauer .329-3-26, 9 SB ------------Josh Dowdy 5-1, 2.97
2B/SS Ryan Wood .317-5-23, 14 SB ------------ Dustin Sasser 5-4, 3.44
1B Stephen Batts .316-5-51, 12 SB -------------- T.J. Hose 6-5, 3.59
CF Harrison Eldridge .300-5-27, 14 SB ---------- Shane Matthews 4-3, 4.05, 13 saves, 37 app
RF Ryan Tousley .294-10-48, 10 SB ------------ Jason Neitz 4-2, 2.81, 33 appearances

GAME 2: JACKSONVILLE DOLPHINS (34-26) versus NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (48-12)

The second game of this regional will pit host and #3 national seed North Carolina against Jacksonville from the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Tar Heels came within a whisker of winning the national title last season but shaky defensive play cost them the big prize to Oregon State. The Heels have had another stellar season despite subpar years from two of last year's biggest sluggers, Chad Flack and Benji Johnson. Flack is hitting .249-6-39 after huge freshman and sophomore seasons (.384-13-68 in 2006, .335-15-49 in 2005). Johnson is at .259-6-26 after banging 14 HR and driving home 44 runs in 2006. Freshman first baseman Dustin Ackley has led the way this year with a team-best .437 BA and 63 RBI. The top four starting pitchers have gone 32-7, and Robert Woodard became UNC's all-team leader in victories with a win against Georgia Tech.
The Dolphins finished fourth in the Atlantic Sun but managed to take the conference title to earn an automatic bid. They have been fiends on the basepaths, with 88 stolen bases to overcome a relatively modest .287 team BA and 35 home runs.

JACKSONVILLE DOLPHINS (Jacksonville, Fl)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 12 (second in a row)
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2006 Athens Regional (1-2)
Automatic bid after winning Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament; 4th place (15-12) in regular season
Results against Regional rivals: none

Team Notes: The Dolphins had wins over Florida State, Florida, and Stetson during the 2007 season. Pitcher Matt Dobbins went 12-0 in the regular season last year (12-2 overall), but has been hampered by back injuries this year and is now pitching out of the bullpen. Another pitching Matt (Davis) is starting after missing the first 23 games following elbow surgery. First baseman Ryan McArdle is a Florida State transfer.
This regional will mark a reunion of former North Carolina chess champions. Jacksonville 2B Logan James and UNC pitcher Robert Woodard won the state chess championship in middle school.

Team Stats/Leaders: BA .287, 35 HR, 88/112 SB ----- ERA 4.37, 529 IP, 596 H, 35 HR

LF Pete Clifford .359-14-59, 21 SB ------------ Justin Young 5-5, 3.33
DH Chuck Opachich .335-0-27, 16 SB -------- Matt Gardner 7-5, 3.82
1B Ryan McArdle .326-6-51 -------------------- Matt Davis 4-1, 3.12, 6 saves
RF Mike McCallister .293-5-46, 14 SB --------- Matt Dobbins 3-2, 3.68
CF Kevin Ferreira .278-0-19, 16 SB

NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (Chapel Hill, NC)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 22 (sixth straight)
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2006 (CWS runner up, 3-0 Chapel Hill Regional, 2-0 Tuscaloosa Super Regional)
Automatic bid after winning ACC Tournament (first time since 1990); won Coastal Division and 2nd overall in ACC (21-9)
Results against Regional rivals: beat ECU 10-0, 5-1

Team Notes: This post-season will mark the end of the current version of Boshamer Stadium. As soon as the last game is played at Boshamer, the contractors will start renovating the stadium to greatly expand seating capacity and modernize the facility. Among the contributors to the project were Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner, who donated a cool million bucks (his daughter graduated from UNC). The new stadium won't be ready until at least May of 2008, so the Tar Heels will play the 2008 season in nearby Cary, NC at the new Team USA training facility.

Team Stats/Leaders: BA .320, 64 HR, 43/63 SB ----- ERA 3.17, 542 IP, 485 H, 32 HR

1B Dustin Ackley .437-7-63, 10 SB ----------- Adam Warren 10-0, 2.09
RF Tim Fedroff .359-4-33 ---------------------- Robert Woodard 9-2, 3.29
C Tim Federowicz .349-4-58 ---------------- Alex White 6-4, 3.35
SS Josh Horton .329-8-43 --------------------- Luke Putkonen 7-1, 4.23
LF Reid Fronk .322-11-50 --------------------- Andrew Carignan 1-1, 1.20, 13 saves