Diamond Heels Face Stony Brook In Final Non-Con Series

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Tar Heels reach the final series of their run of eight games in nine days with a weekend of games against Stony Brook at Boshamer Stadium.

The series will represent games 13-15 all-time between the two programs. It is only the second season the pair have faced off with Scott Forbes in charge of the Tar Heels. In 2023, UNC took all three games of a weekend series. UNC needed 11 innings to claim a 3-2 win in the opener before cruising to 7-5 and 15-4 victories in the next two.

SCHEDULE
Game 1: Friday, Feb. 28 - 4 PM - ACCNX
Game 2: Saturday, Mar. 1 - 2 PM - goHeels.com/watch (Audio only)
Game 3: Sunday, Mar. 2 - 1 PM - ACCNX

No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels (9-0, 0-0 ACC)

Head Coach	Scott Forbes
Record at UNC	163-89 (Fifth Season)
Career Record	Same
Against Stony Brook	3-0

Stony Brook Seawolves (3-3, 0-0 CAA)

Head Coach	Matt Senk
Record at Stony Brook	924-644 (34th Season)
Career Record	Same
Against UNC	0-12

5 DAYS. 5 WINS.
➤ With their 15-4 win Wednesday night over NC A&T, the Tar Heels moved to 9-0 and completed their five games in five day stretch unblemished.
➤ UNC is 9-0 to start the year for the first time since 2013 when they rattled off 16 in a row.
➤ The day before the VCU Rams came to town and the Heels sent them home with a 9-4 loss in hand.
➤ In both midweek matchups, UNC gave up four runs in the third inning and we're trailing at that point. And in both games the bullpen shut it down, allowing no further damage and letting the offense score 20 unanswered.
➤ Carolina also swept in-state rivals East Carolina to kick-off the five straight games. It is the first weekend series sweep all-time between the two programs, in just the third-ever opportunity.
➤ 17 strikeouts in the final game was UNC's most since punching out 18 against Virginia on March 10, 2023.
➤ The 17 was followed by 14 Ks against VCU. It was the first time since March 2019 against UMass-Lowell that Carolina has recorded back-to-back games with 14+ strikeouts.

STAY HOT STOKELY
➤ First baseman Hunter Stokely has come out of the gates hot to start the year and nothing was stopping him last week.
➤ The big veteran hit .550 in Carolina's last five games, racking up 11 hits, eight RBIs and eight runs scored. Three home runs across two games complimented his efficient and timely small ball.
➤ He hit two homers against VCU on Tuesday, giving him his first multi-home run game and his first time going yard in back-to-back games since April 2023.
➤ It is the best batting average and on-base percentage (.609) of any five game stretch in his career.
➤ He was also the first Tar Heel this year to get four hits in a game in the home stand against ECU on Sunday, matching his career high.

DREAM DEBUT
➤ On Wednesday against NC A&T, yet another true freshman entered the fray for the Heels and made an instant impact.
➤ The Peachland, N.C., product Perry Hargett made his debut as a pinch hitter in the fourth and produced three hits, four RBIs and two runs highlighted by an eighth inning, three-run blast to deep left field.
➤ Hargett is one of two Tar Heel freshmen to have homered in their collegiate debut since 2011, the other being one Vance Honeycutt on Feb. 18, 2022 (who hit two long balls that day).

SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES
➤ Stony Brook's year so far has been made up of two weekend series. Both were sweeps on the road, one in favor of the Seawolves and one in the opposite direction.
➤ Head coach Matt Senk's team opened the year with three wins over Bethune-Cookman before losing three to Florida Gulf Coast.
➤ Two-way player Erik Paulsen is the star of the roster, earning Preseason All-America honors from Perfect Game. The CAA Rookie of the Year made it on four All-America teams as a freshman last season.
➤ Paulsen slashed .299/.392/.458 at the plate while earning six saves in 15 appearances with a 3.21 ERA on the mound.
➤ Pitcher Eddie Smink joined Paulsen on the Preseason All-CAA team. Smink lead the team in wins (5), ERA (3.11), strikeouts (56), and BAA (.215).

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST STONY BROOK
➤ Carolina's most recent series against the Seawolves came back in March 2023, a sweep in favor of UNC.
➤ In game one, Mac Horvath hit a solo shot to left to walk it off for the Tar Heels 3-2.
➤ Home runs from Hunter Stokely, Patrick Alvarez, and Horvath powered the Heels to 7-5 win in game two.
➤ Game three was a comfortable 15-4 win featuring a slew of current Carolina players. Jake Knapp got the start and the win, while first-year Tar Heel Jackson Van De Brake homered twice for the second time that week, bringing in five RBIs that game.

YOUNG BUCKS BRING THE HEAT
➤ Carolina has called upon four true freshmen to deliver in big spots early this season and each showed the talent that got them to Chapel Hill in the first place.
➤ First to appear, in the back end of the opening day double header, was the Lee County legend McDuffie. He debuted with two runners on and left with no earned runs, five strikeouts and the win after 3.2 innings pitched against Texas Tech.
➤ Ellerbe, N.C. native Camron Seagraves has thrown in four games already, second only to the veteran Matthijs. He boasts a win, a 2.40 ERA, and eight strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
➤ Flamethrower Ryan Lynch turned heads in his first outing in picking up the win. 4.0 innings of seven strikeout and no walk work is quite the first impression.
➤ Lynch's seven Ks were the most by a Carolina pitcher in their collegiate debut since Max Carlson racked up eight on Feb. 20, 2021.
➤ The true freshman trio alongside the young-for-his-class Jason Decaro own six of the Tar Heels' nine wins so far this year. Lynch is the oldest of the group at 19.

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Players Mentioned

Patrick Alvarez

Perry Hargett

Vance Honeycutt

Jake Knapp

Ryan Lynch

Camron Seagraves

Hunter Stokely

Jackson Van De Brake