North Carolina 2012 Baseball World Series Capsule

North Carolina Tar Heels
ACC (42-13, 22-8)

 
North Carolina baseball, under Head Coach Mike Fox, has evolved into one of the elite programs in College Baseball. It’s never about rebuilding in Chapel Hill, it’s about reloading and maintaining its spot among the Top 10 nationally. In 2012, it’s been no different as the Tar Heels put together an excellent ACC regular season campaign with 22 victories and pulled off sweeps at Clemson and Virginia, which are very difficult places to play. This road to success through the rugged ACC should have this squad fully ready for the postseason gauntlet in June. Also, the experience of being semi-regulars in Omaha is going to be very important to the 2012 postseason run.

Big Wins: 3/9 thru 3/11 at Clemson (4-3, 6-3, 6-5), 3/25, 3/26 vs. NC State (4-3, 7-4) 3/28 vs. Coastal Carolina (7-6) 4/13 thru 4/15 at Virginia (2-1, 6-2, 5-3),
Bad Losses: 2/17 vs. Xavier (4-10), 3/14 vs. Gardner-Webb (4-7), 4/18 vs. Liberty (3-5), 4/24 vs. UNC-Greensboro (4-8)
Coach: Mike Fox (14 seasons at North Carolina)

Why They Can Surprise:
The two headed monster at the top of the starting rotation, Kent Emanuel and Benton Moss have made it very difficult for opponents to take weekend series’ in conference play. Michael Morin has been very difficult to get anything going against in the closer role as he is amongst the nation’s leaders in saves. Offensively, the leadership of Jacob Stallings, the senior catcher/first baseman, is going to be very important as the Tar Heels are not going to beat you playing homerun derby. They will beat you with execution and stealing bases. Leadoff batter, Chaz Frank, sets the tone for the North Carolina offense as he hits very well for average and is a terror on the base paths.

Why They Can Disappoint:
If the team struggles like they have occasionally against mid-major teams with losses to the likes of Liberty and Gardner-Webb, and get behind the eight ball and lose a game early in a regional that could become a bit problematic. Also, if Emanuel and Moss struggle at all on the big stage of postseason play, an upset could occur. Chris Munnelly and Hobbs Johnson will have to step up and be the third ace if Emanuel and Moss run into any major issues and get knocked out of a postseason game early.

Key Field Players:
Chaz Frank, Junior, OF, .307 BA, 35 RBI, 14 SB
Jacob Stallings, Senior, C/IF, .297 BA, 36 RBI
Cody Stubbs, Junior, IF/OF, .266 BA, 33 RBI
Colin Moran, Sophomore, IF, .384 BA, 34 RBI
Michael Russell, Freshman, OF, .285 BA, 23 RBI, 12 SB

Key Pitchers:
Kent Emanuel, Sophomore, Starting Pitcher, 1.80 ERA, 8-3 W/L, 95.0 IP, 90 SO
Benton Moss, Freshman, Starting Pitcher, 2.13 ERA, 6-2 W/L, 67.2 IP, 77 SO
Michael Morin, Junior, Closer, 0.91 ERA, 5-3 W/L, 49.1 IP, 43 SO, 17 SV

By the Numbers:
Batting Average: .281 (118th in nation, 6th in conference)
Scoring Offense: 6.1 (64, 6)
Doubles per Game: 2.04 (29, 4)
Triples per Game: 0.40 (17, 2)
Home Runs per Game: 0.33 (209, 12)
Slugging Percentage: .393 (104, 8)
Stolen Bases per Game: 1.15 (106, 7)
Earned Run Average: 2.61 (3, 1)
Fielding Percentage: .969 (101, 6)
Double Plays per Game: 0.71 (193, 10)

Recent Postseason Appearances:

*all team stats through 5/20

 
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