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Seager Named Progress Energy Performer Of The Week
April 14, 2008
Kyle Seager homered three times in leading Carolina baeball to its first-ever series sweep at Clemson and is the Progress Energy Tar Heel of the Week for April 7-13, 2008. Seager, a sophomore from Kannapolis, hit .538 (7-13), with four runs scored and eight RBI against the Tigers. He had as many RBI in the three games as the entire Clemson team. After going 2-for-4 with an RBI in Friday's win, Seager accounted for all four UNC runs in the game two victory with a three-run home run in the first and a solo shot in the fifth for his second career multi-homer game. The Kannapolis native followed that up with three hits Sunday, including the go-ahead, two-run home run in the fifth inning. Seager, who finished with a .350 average for the week, leads the ACC with 48 RBI and 20 doubles and tops the Tar Heels with a .397 average. His 20 doubles are already tied for ninth on the Tar Heels' single-season list. Seager saw a 27-game hitting streak snapped earlier in the week but has hit safely in 30 of the last 32 games. Other nominees: KRISTEN TAYLOR Taylor tallied a team-high three points (two goals and one assist) in Saturday night's 10-8 loss to No. 3 Maryland in Chapel Hill. Taylor scored Carolina's first two second-half goals in the defensive struggle at Fetzer Field. KEVIN O'CONNELL Kevin O'Connell tied for 11th place at The River Landing Intercollegiate played this past weekend in Wallace, N.C. O'Connell carded an even par 216 total after firing a five-under-par 67 in the first round, a three-over 75 in the second round and a two-over 74 in Sunday's final round. This was O'Connell's eighth top-15 finish of the year. The Tar Heels finished in sixth place with a 13-over 877 total. Carolina carded a pair of 297 totals in the first two rounds followed by a five-under 283 in the final round. CHRIS KEARNEY Sophomore Chris Kearney improved to 9-1 on the season in dual match singles play and 7-3 in ACC dual match doubles play with teammate Taylor Fogleman as the Tar Heels swept Duke, Georgia Tech and Clemson in the final week of the season. Kearney went 3-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles as the No. 11 Tar Heels swept the three matches. Kearney's wins were key as the Tar Heels beat Duke 4-3, earning Carolina its first regular-season win over the Blue Devils since 1996. Kearney's singles win against Kiril Dimitrov was the clinching point in the match. Against Georgia Tech, he handed the Yellow Jackets' David North, ranked #78 nationally, only his second dual match loss in the spring season, rallying to beat his Tech opponent, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. CASSIE PALMER Senior second baseman Cassie Palmer paced the No. 15 Tar Heels to a 4-1 week, including a road sweep at Virginia over the weekend. Palmer was 11 for 18 (.611 avg.) during the week with eight RBIs, five doubles and a home run. The Weddington, N.C. native slugged at a 1.056 clip during the week thanks to the six extra-base hits. Palmer also became Carolina's all-time leader in career at bats (731) and runs scored (160) as she led the Tar Heels to their ninth 40-win season in school history. DONTE NALL Sophomore high jumper Donte Nall equaled a personal-best when he cleared 7-2.50 in the high jump at the Tony Waldrop Invitational to claim the top spot. Nall was not close to being done for the weekend as he tallied a second regional mark in the triple jump when he set a personal-best clearing 49-5.50. The Douglasville, Ga. native is now tied with Lee Shuler (1980) for the fifth-best high jump mark in school history. NOVICE EIGHT Racing at the Knecht Cup, the UNC novice eight won all three of its races on
the weekend, taking first in its heat and semifinal on Saturday and in the
grand final on Sunday to best a field of 24 boats. Carolina's closest margin
of the weekend was 4.3 seconds in the semifinals. The Tar Heels won the
grand final by seven seconds. The lineup for the novice eight was Jill
Lunsford (coxswain), Paige Wolf, Katherine Williamson, Anna Noguchi, Cait
Clendenin, Katie Frayler, Lindsay Paterniti, Vanessa Matos and Tallie
Casucci.
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