All posts by Cliff Barnes

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Tar Heels blow big lead, fall to Miami 7-5

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Miami came from a 5-0 deficit to score seven two-out runs and defeat North Carolina 7-5 this afternoon in the ACC baseball tournament in Durham.

The Tar Heels scored three in the first and two in the fifth. A three-run double by Miami’s Zeke DeVoss drew the Hurricanes to within 5-4 in the sixth. In the seventh inning, Miami’s Stephen Perez drove in a pair to give the Hurricanes a 6-5 lead and they would never trail again.

For more on the game, please click here.

The Tar Heels will look to bounce back on Friday when they take on Wake Forest at 7 p.m. at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Former Raleigh high school player transfers to Carolina

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The North Carolina Tar Heels are bringing on another backup point guard as Luke Davis of Gardner-Webb is transferring to Carolina as a walk-on.

The six-footer who averaged 7 points and 4 assists as a freshman starter last year decided he’d rather follow his dream of playing for the Tar Heels. Davis, who attended both Broughton and Ravenscroft, will have to sit out next season per NCAA rules and will have three years of eligibility left starting in 2012-13.

“I’m going in to work as hard as I can possibly work and to be the best teammate I can possibly be,” Davis said. “I don’t have any expect any expectations as far as what I’m going to do. I just know that I’m going to work as hard as I can and do anything to help the team in any way I can — no matter what that means.”

To read more on the story, please click here.

Featured stories, The skinny

Garner pitcher McCreery now known as the American Idol

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Scotty McCreery, a former pitcher for Garner High School, is the new American Idol singing contest winner. As such, his baseball career is likely over.

The Trojans could have used the right-hander this season as they finished the season with a losing record at 11-13 after losing their final game 9-1 to Pine Forest in the first round of the state high school playoffs. Garner did go on a late-season run, winning four of its last five regular-season games as they were watching McCreery go further and further in the weekly Idol competition.

McCreery had a stellar 6-1 record and 1.04 ERA as a junior varsity player last year. As a freshman, McCreery was an impressive 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA.

In his final start as a pitcher last summer, he threw a complete-game shutout against Fuquay-Varina. It was probably the last game the new country singing star, who earned a $1 million recording contract, will ever pitch.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

Former State guard Harrow transfers to Kentucky

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Former NC State point guard Ryan Harrow announced via Twitter Wednesday night that he is transferring to Kentucky. He reportedly chose the Wildcats over Louisville. Harrow, who average nine points a game, decided to transfer after Coach Sidney Lowe left State. Per NCAA rules, Harrow must sit out the 2011-12 season and will be eligible to play for Kentucky as a sophomore in 2012-13.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

NC State upsets Florida State in day one of ACC tourney

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N.C. State’s Cory Mazzoni struck out nine and teammate Matt Bergquist blasted a two-run homer to lead the Wolfpack past Florida State 7-0 Wednesday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Durham.

The No. 7 seeded Pack, now 34-23, lost to the Seminoles in last year’s ACC championship game. Florida State, now 41-15, won the Atlantic Division championship and came into the tourney as the No. 2 seed.

The Pack plays third-seeded Georgia Tech Thursday at 7 p.m.

In other action Wednesday, Clemson whipped the Yellow Jackets 9-0 while No. 1 seed Virginia humiliated No. 8 seed Wake Forest 13-1. No. 4 North Carolina plays No. 5 Miami at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

Pack opens ACC tourney play today; UNC starts Thursday

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No. 7 seed N.C. State takes on No. 2 seed Florida State at 7 p.m. tonight while No. 4 UNC opens plays its ACC baseball tournament against No. 5 Miami at 11 a.m. Thursday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Only eight teams make the tournament. No. 8 seed Wake Forest is also in the tournament. For a full tourney schedule, please click here.

To purchase single game or full-tournament passes to the 2011 ACC Baseball Championship, call the Durham Bulls ticket office at 919-956-BULL or order on-line through the team’s website at www.durhambulls.com.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

UNC’s Moran named ACC freshman of the year; State’s Maynard makes first team

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North Carolina freshman third baseman Colin Moran was named the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year for his first campaign as a Tar Heel as voted on by the league coaches. Moran was also named to the All-ACC First Team, while the UNC trio of Tommy Coyle, Levi Michael and Patrick Johnson were named to the second team.

Pratt Maynard, a junior catcher, was the only player from NC State to make the first team. Maynard had a consistent 2011 campaign, batting .335 with 19 doubles, one triple, five home runs and 40 RBIs.

Moran becomes the fifth Tar Heel to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year and first since Dustin Ackley in 2007. Moran currently leads the ACC with 67 RBI during the regular season, 10 more than his next closest competitor. The Rye, N.Y., native leads the Tar Heels with a .355 average on the year and owns a team-best .464 on base percentage.

In addition to the Freshman of the Year award, Moran was also named First Team All-ACC becoming the first freshman to be named to the squad since Virginia’s Danny Hultzen in 2009.

Also earning All-ACC honors were infielders Tommy Coyle and Levi Michael as Carolina is the only team in the conference with three infielders on the two teams.

Coyle finished the regular season with an even 50 runs scored to lead the team, while hitting .307 to rank third on the team. The Chalfont, Pa., native also leads the Tar Heels in stolen bases as he has swiped 16 bases in 18 attempts.

Michael came in to the season as a preseason All-America candidate and went on to hit .311 during the regular season scoring 47 runs, while driving in 46 more. The Welcome, N.C., native also became just the third player in school history to record 40 runs, 40 RBI and 40 walks in back-to-back seasons.

Coming into the season the Tar Heels were in search of a Friday night starter with several options available but senior Patrick Johnson quickly gained hold of the spot starting the season on a six-game unbeaten streak. Johnson would finish the regular season with a dominating four-hit shutout of No. 1 Virginia en route to All-ACC Second Team honors.

Johnson is currently on a four-game unbeaten streak and posted a 7-1 mark in conference play with a team-low 3.18 ERA.

Carolina opens the 2011 ACC Baseball Championship on Thursday at 11 a.m. when it faces Miami.

Player of the Year: Brad Miller, Clemson
Pitcher of the Year: Danny Hultzen, Virginia
Freshman of the Year: Colin Moran, UNC
Coach of the Year: Brian O’Connor, Virginia

Featured stories, The skinny

Hamilton comes off DL, hits a homer

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Raleigh native Josh Hamilton, on the disabled list since April 13, took an 0-1 pitch from John Danks over the right-field wall for a home run in the Texas Rangers’ 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I‘d be,” Hamilton said. “It was cool to see it go out. That’s why I was running a little faster around the bases. I wasn’t sure it was going out.”

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Duke lacrosse back to Final Four after beating Notre Dame

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Duke sophomore goaltender Dan Wigrizer made 14 saves to anchor the Blue Devils to a 7-5 victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA men’s lacrosse quarterfinal at Gillette Stadium. Duke advances to the championship weekend for the fifth straight season and for the seventh time overall.

Duke (14-5) will play unseeded Maryland on May 28 at M&T Bank Stadium. That will be the third meeting between the two squads this season.

Justin Turri led all Blue Devils with two goals, while Christian Walsh and David Lawson both had a goal and an assist. Westy Hopkins led all scorers with three goals.

– NEWS RELEASE –

Featured stories, The skinny

Horse with a North Carolina connection wins Preakness

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Shackleford, a horse named after Shackleford Banks near Beaufort, NC, defeated favorite Animal Kingdom for the Preakness title Saturday.

Shackleford beat the Kentucky Derby winner by a half-length at Pimlico in Baltimore. The chestnut colt was slick from sweat and was fighting against getting in the gate. But once the race began, Shackleford stayed up at or near the top the rest of the way.

The horse’s owners Mike Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge bought the colt at the 2009 Keeneland September yearling sale. They thought long and hard before giving him a name.

“We were thinking at the time he needs a good name, because with his pedigree he could possibly be a good horse some day,” said Lauffer, majority owner in the partnership that primarily breeds horses to sell and races those that don’t get sold.

They settled on Shackleford, named for the barrier island off the North Carolina coast that is home to feral horses that have inhabited the land for several hundred years. Lauffer said he and Cubbedge are frequent visitors to Shackleford Banks.