Tigers Travel to Chapel Hill to Take on Tar Heels in Pivotal ACC Series

April 11, 2002

Clemson, SC – Top-ranked Clemson (28-3, 5-1 ACC) will travel to Chapel Hill this weekend in its first ACC road series of the season to take on #13 North Carolina (24-11, 9-3 ACC). Game one at Boshamer Stadium will start at 7:00 PM, while games two and three will be played Saturday at 3:00 PM and Sunday at 2:00 PM, respectively. All three games will be broadcast on Clemson Tiger Sports Properties and can be heard live via the internet at www.clemsontigers.com. Live stats will also be available on Clemson’s website.

Clemson holds an 84-64-1 advantage in the series dating back to 1901. Head Coach Jack Leggett is 19-8 against the Tar Heels as the Tiger skipper, including an 8-4 record in Chapel Hill. Clemson took two of three games last year at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and downed the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament to end their season. Two seasons ago, North Carolina won two of three games in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina, led by fourth-year Head Coach Mike Fox, is tied for second in the conference with Wake Forest (6-2), but is a half game ahead of the Demon Deacons in the standings. The Tar Heels are 18-4 at home compared to their 4-6 record on the road. They were swept in three games at Auburn earlier this season, a team Clemson swept in three games in Tigertown.

Chris Maples leads the Tar Heels, who are hitting .316 as a team, with 14 homers and 44 RBIs along with 10 steals. North Carolina has stolen 91 bases in 108 attempts for an 84-percent success rate. Russ Adams, who le has a team-best .370 batting average, leads the nation with 37 steals. Adam Greenberg has stolen 24 bases in 26 attempts as well.

The Tar Heels, who have a 4.19 team ERA, will send out junior righthander Scott Autrey (1-2, 4.70 ERA) on Friday. Game two will feature freshman righty Garry Bakker (4-1, 2.78 ERA), while the series finale will see sophomore lefty Daniel Moore (3-1, 6.91 ERA) take the mound.

Senior righty Steve Reba (8-0, 3.25 ERA) looks to extend his winning streak to 13 Friday when he takes the mound. Righthander Matt Henrie (6-1, 2.08 ERA) will start Saturday and righty B.J. LaMura (3-0, 1.32 ERA) will start Sunday. Clemson has a 3.38 team ERA to go along with its .343 team batting average.