Tar Heels set for invading Pirates

CHAPEL HILL

Mike Fox and Billy Godwin have been friends for 20 years, but past association will mean nothing to either today.

"We've known each other a long time, but he's not my friend this weekend," Fox said. "And I'm not his, either."

Fox is North Carolina's baseball coach. Godwin is East Carolina's coach. Their teams will play each other today at Boshamer Stadium in the NCAA Tournament's Chapel Hill Super Regional.

The noon game will be the first of a best-of-3 format. The winner will advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

North Carolina will try to reach the series for the fourth consecutive season. Dustin Ackley, the first baseman, said that he has a burning desire to return to Omaha and try for the program's first NCAA title, given that he is likely in his last college season.

Ackley, a junior, is projected as one of the top five picks for next week's Major-League Draft.

"Once you've been there and you know what Omaha's like, you don't want to be any other place," Ackley said. "I think that's what keeps me going: what's out there, how exciting it is, and how terrible I'd feel if we didn't make it out there."

The Tar Heels are 45-16. The Pirates are 46-18. Both teams were No. 1 seeds last week in regional play. The Tar Heels are the No. 4 seed nationally. The Super Regional is sold out for Boshamer's listed seating capacity of 4,100.

North Carolina has an edge in experience, playing in its fourth consecutive Super Regional. But Brandon Henderson, the Pirates' first baseman, said he's confident that his team has the hitting and the pitching to reach the school's first College World Series.

"I think experience matters because they've been there a couple of times, but I think when it comes time to play (our) adrenaline is going to be going so much," Henderson said. "I don't think we're going to come in here and play scared, especially after playing them twice this season."

The teams split two regular-season games, with each winning at home. UNC is 4-1 against ECU in the NCAA Tournament and has a 23-8 record in the rivalry in games in Chapel Hill. ECU last won in Chapel Hill in 1994.

Chief among the key aspects of the matchup will be UNC's pitching and ECU's hitting. Alex White, a right-handed junior, will be UNC's opening-game pitcher and will try to shake injuries that bothered him last week in his last start and escape a late-season slump.

White suffered a large blister on his right index finger last Saturday and lasted less than five innings in a win against Coastal Carolina. He was pitching with a strained hamstring suffered late last week while he was running.

White hasn't won since April 24 and has dropped his past three decisions. He wasn't involved in the win over Coastal Carolina.

White threw in the bullpen Thursday during practice and Fox said that pitching coach Scott Forbes was pleased with the effort.

White said yesterday that his finger and hamstring are no longer issues.

"If I didn't think I could help us win, I wouldn't be out there," White said. "Anytime I think I'm hurting this team, I'll take myself out of the game."

The Pirates have a team batting average of .341, which is 34 points higher than the Tar Heels' average. Of the Pirates' top 12 regular hitters, 11 are batting at least .302, led by Ryan Wood, a senior second baseman who is batting .383 and had a 19-game hitting streak during the regular season.

Wood is one of four ECU players with 14 home runs. Kyle Roller, a junior designated hitter and first baseman, leads with 16 homers and is batting .337. He also leads in runs batted in with 74. Trent Whitehead, a sophomore center fielder, has 103 hits, the team high, and is batting .380.

ECU has scored 561 runs, 116 more than UNC. It has driven in 517 runs, 106 more than UNC. UNC has the better pitching staff statistically with a 3.66 earned-run average to ECU's 4.36.

White said that a strong start against ECU's hitters will be vital to his performance.

"My first job is to get the first hitter out and then move on from there," White said. "That's the way I'm going to have to think about it because you never know what's going to happen. We have the bullpen to deal with anything that may happen. We've got great pitchers in the bullpen."

Godwin said that failure has been the best teacher for his teams in four seasons as ECU's coach. He is confident that his team can win twice and reach the College World Series, but he knows that UNC is 16-1 in home NCAA Tournament games in the last four seasons.

"I think our guys have been through enough that they're ready to take the next step," Godwin said. "Is that going to happen? I don't know. Carolina's been to where we want to go.

"We're two wins away from Omaha. Those two wins for our program are probably the most difficult wins (to take)."

■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.