Baseball Takes on UNC at Home This Weekend

The Hokies open their home ACC schedule today as they welcome the North Carolina Tar Heels to English Field.

The Tar Heels are 14-3 and come into the weekend as the 15th ranked team in the USA TODAY/ESPN rankings. UNC's high powered offense is outscoring opponents 146-61 and is second in the ACC with runs scored per game at 8.11. To go with the high powered offense, the Tar Heels have one of the top pitching units in the ACC as well, allowing 3.58 runs per game,  and striking out close to 10 batters a game. The Tar Heels have a 5-2 record away from Chapel Hill.

As for Virginia Tech, the Hokies lost their ACC-opening series to the Miami Hurricanes on the road. The Hokies returned to English Field on Wednesday and walloped Hartford in a doubleheader by scores of 10-3 and 11-3. Like the longball? Go watch the Hokies, they lead the ACC in homeruns with 24, 7 courtesy of Andrew Rash.

This weekend's games are scheduled for the following start times:

Friday--5:30 PM
Saturday--2:00 PM                VT tote bags will be handed out to the first 500 fans.
Sunday--1:00 PM

Also, tonight is "Retro Friday" so if you want to see the Hokies rock their Houston Astros-esque striped uniforms, head to English Field.

Some Hokies and Heels to watch are after the jump.

Tar Heels to watch:

Pitchers--Patrick Johnson, Cody Stiles

Batters--Jesse Wierzbicki (#34), Colin Moran (#18), Levi Michael (#6)

Hokies to watch:

Pitchers--Marc Zecchino, Joe Mantiply, Joe Parsons

Batters--Andrew Rash (UTL, #20), Tim Smalling (SS, #8), Tony Balisteri (IF, #10)