Cal made it into the NCAA Tournament as a #2 seed, and they will take on the #3 North Carolina Tar Heels. The Bears have been reeling lately, but let’s take a look at their upcoming opponent.
In Game 1, the Heels will likely throw their ace, Matt Harvey. Harvey, who will likely be taken in the 1st round of the MLB draft, posted a 7-3 record with a 3.10 ERA. His FIP is 3.79, which means he should regress technically, and his BABIP is right around average at .297. He doesn’t walk many and strikes out over a man per inning. Runs are going to be precious.
Hitting wise, the Heels have 6 players with an OBP over .400, and two guys with over .390. The “star” of the offense is Levi Michael, who hits .355 and has jacked 8 home runs. On the year they average over 7 runs a game with their balanced offensive attack. Holding them down will be very important.
A weird miscellaneous stat is the Tar Heels 7-11 record away from home as opposed to 29-9 at home. In Norman, Oklahoma, North Carolina does not have home field advantage. Their bullpen is very susceptible to runs, so if Cal can run Harvey’s pitch count up then the chance to win is there.
Prediction: 4-2 UNC
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment