Leading up to the College World Series in Omaha Neb. all the buzz around North Carolina will undoubtedly be on sweet-swinging first baseman Dustin Ackley. And for good reason.
Ackley's bat is singeing hot right now and his season average is better than .400.
But to get to the real reason that the Tar Heels breezed their way into Omaha it's necessary to look a little further down the lineup.
Five spots further" to be precise.
It's the bottom third of UNC's lineup that has come out of nowhere to produce — and get on base when Ackley and fellow slugger Kyle Seager get up to the plate.
""That's what we talk about all year long" is the other seven guys you have only one objective and that's to be on base when Dusty and Kyle come to the plate" coach Mike Fox said. That's been our offensive motto all year long. However you can do that.""
In regional and super regional play" UNC has used mainly the same four players to hit in the seventh eighth and ninth slots. Outfielders Garrett Gore and Mike Cavasinni along with designated hitters Seth Baldwin and Jacob Stallings did the bulk of the work in those slots.
For the two weekends those four players combined for 25 hits. And as a collective they are batting .462 — not far off Ackley's postseason pace.
Gore in particular has dialed it up a notch. The senior has six home runs this season and three of them have come in the past two weekends — including a storybook shot in his last at-bat in Boshamer Stadium.
With the count at two balls and no strikes" Gore hammered a pitch from East Carolina's Bailey Daniels to dead-away center field. The ball hit high off the batter's eye and fell back onto the field as Gore raced around the bases.
""I really don't know what to say just because I guessed at that pitch" and I didn't swing at the first two pitches like (Coach Fox) probably thought I was going to do Gore said.
I don't know. It feels good" but I'm speechless.""
For the past two weekends" Gore went 11-for-23 an average more or less on par with Ackley's. Even if he is guessing at pitches he's guessing right about half the time.
But the senior Gore — and redshirt junior Cavasinni — have both come alive in the postseason giving UNC a pair of crafty experienced hitters at the bottom of the lineup.
Gore has discovered some hitting power and Cavasinni's speed means that he can sometimes score from first base with just one hit.
It's helped as well that both Stallings and Baldwin have discovered their swings. Baldwin in particular has hit his way into split duty at the designated hitter spot. In the past two weekends Baldwin is hitting 4-for-7.
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Baseball: Bottom of lineup _¶ nds success in super regional
In his final two games at Boshamer Stadium senior Garrett Gore batted .555 and smashed a homer in his last at-bat during the ninth inning.
