Tuesday Baseball Report(5/6)

Results Last Week: Lost to ECU 1-0
Record Last Week: 0-1
Record This Season: 27-19
Schedule This Week: 5/6 vs Campbell, 5/7 at Elon, 5/9-5/11 vs Florida State

With exams going on, UNC played just one game last week and had the weekend off. The Heels failed to muster any offense losing 1-0 at home to East Carolina. The Pirtates' Reid Love pitched a shut-out giving up just five hits, no walks and striking out seven in the complete game effort. Tar Heel sophomore Taylore Cherry gave up just one run in six innings but it was enough to saddle him with the loss. Michael Russell extended his hitting streak to 18 games. The Heels also committed five errors which makes them losing just 1-0 a bit of a miracle in itself.

In terms of UNC's ACC Tournament chances, the Tar Heels presently sit in 5th place but the field around them has gotten very crowded. Potentially complicating matters is the fact UNC has six games against two of the best teams in the ACC. FSU comes to town this weekend and UNC closes out the regular season at Miami the following week. Getting swept by both teams would be a disaster and now outside the realm of possibility. It would put UNC in a terrible position for the ACC Tournament and spell certain doom for any hope of an NCAA Tournament bid.

Speaking of which, UNC has dropped to 55th in the RPI according to Warren Nolan. The games against FSU and Miami will serve as a boost from a strength of schedule standpoint but the Heels need to snag wins. UNC also can't fall asleep at the wheel against Campbell and Elon this week. The Camels are 82nd and the Phoenix 121st. Wins in these games are important because they are not losses. A loss to either team would be damaging. At this stage the Heels need all the wins they can possibly find.