Coastal Carolina that is. The Chanticleers are 45-6 and should get a nice seed in the NC AA tournament. Two years ago Coastal Carolina fell to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA Super Regionals in Cary. The Tar Heels, who stand at 32-20 and 11-16 in the ACC, probably won’t qualify for the ACC tournament and are on the bubble for getting an NCAA bid.

UNC lost pitching and hitting but few thought the Heels would fall this far, this fast. One of the biggest differences between this year’s team and last year’s club is power. With the season dwindling down, the Tar Heels have only 36 home runs compared to 69 last year. Carolina was a plus 19 in homers last year and are a minus seven this year.

Of course the main reason for that is the loss of Dustin Ackley, now in the Seattle Mariners minor league system. No one has been able to come close to making up for Ackley’s 22 home runs and .417 batting average from last season.
The Heels’ top hitter this year is Levi Michael, who is batting an impressive .351 but who has only six homers.

Lee Fowler told reporters Thursday that the process of him leaving N.C. State was “emotional.” Yes, that’s true, but it’d really be emotional if he didn’t have three years of salary ahead of him.

N.C. State’s search for the next athletics director should be a short one, and should end over at the Wolfpack Club.

Bobby Purcell has been a coach, an athletics administrator and knows the Wolfpack inside and out. He also knows the Wolfpack fan base – from the big givers to those who just want to be there when they can. No one who has been around Purcell doubts his passion for the school.

He has built the Wolfpack Club into a first-rate organization – and he would have a huge impact as well if moved to the athletic director’s position.