The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
UNC hitters aim to stay hot in CWS
North Carolina’s offense is racking up hits, working counts to get on base and coming up with timely hits to bring runners home.
The timing couldn’t be any better, either.
The Tar Heels head to the College World Series for the first time in five years with an offense that has been at its best in big moments in the postseason. They’re averaging nearly 10 runs and 12 hits while batting .335 in the NCAA Tournament entering Saturday’s Omaha opener against No. 3 national seed Oregon State.
“I guess that’s the easiest term, is: yes, your guys get in there and get a little bit more locked in and maybe get a little bit better swing off,” UNC coach Mike Fox said Tuesday. “It’s what you have to do when you get to the NCAA Tournament. You have to raise your level of play.
“That’s easier said than done. You’ve got to give our players credit because it’s pretty obvious that’s what they did.”
North Carolina (43-18), the No. 6 national seed, started 7-7 but led the Atlantic Coast Conference in league play with 210 runs (7.24 per game) and a .294 batting average. And they’ve rolled that momentum right into the NCAAs, winning all five games while tallying 48 runs, 58 hits and six home runs.
“Baseball’s a lot about momentum,” junior third baseman Kyle Datres said after Saturday’s super-regional clincher against Stetson. “And we’ve come together and put a lot of good swings up on balls here lately. Just going up there and having a quality at-bat, whether you get it a hit or not, just squaring the ball up — good things are going to happen.”
The Tar Heels had made going to Omaha seem almost routine with six trips in eight years under Fox from 2006-13. This group lacks the same type of toptier offensive threat such as All-Americans Dustin Ackley or Colin Moran from those past teams.
Rather, as Datres put it: “It’s been 1 through 9.”
The Tar Heels grind it out at the plate.They rank eighth nationally by drawing 337 walks this season, with No. 9 seed Texas Tech (347) the only team headed to Omaha with more.