By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — The two starting pitchers in the Chapel Hill Super Regional opener are like mirror images, other than one being much taller than the other.
UNC’s 6–3 junior left-hander Shea Sprague (3–1, 3.76 ERA) immediately noticed it when he watched a video of 5–7 West Virginia senior left-hander Derek Clark (8–2, 2.82 ERA), calling it “pretty uncanny.”
They’ll battle at 6 p.m. Friday in Game 1 of the best-of-five series (ESPN2) between No. 6-ranked and No. 4 NCAA seed UNC (45–14) and West Virginia (35–22) in front of a sold-out Boshamer Stadium crowd.
“It’s pretty funny how we kind of mirror each other,” Sprague said.
Both have what baseball people like to call “pitchability.” That’s the ability to throw any pitch at any time, change speeds, and keep opposing hitters off-balance.
“From a pitchability standpoint, it’s fastball command, changeup, occasional slider. So, that’s the same,” said West Virginia coach Randy Mazey, who adds that Clark is a small guy with a huge heart. “I wouldn’t be surprised if [Sprague] gets the most out of his ability like Derek does.”
Both transferred in the offseason, Sprague from Elon and Clark from Division II Northwood University. Neither is overpowering, but they have the pitch selection to keep opponents guessing.
Carolina left fielder Casey Cook said Sprague is the only ACC pitcher who reminds him of Clark.
“That’s probably the only name I could pull. It’s kind of funny that he’s on our team,” Cook said.
Cook said the experience UNC hitters got against Sprague during the fall season will be helpful, but he knows that Clark will be challenging to face.
“He’s just a guy you can’t really cheat on the fastball [against],” Cook said. “He doesn’t throw hard enough to really blow by you, so that makes it a little easier. But this guy is tough to hit because he has that mix.
“When you try to catch the ball in front and hit homers, pull balls, he starts throwing changeups, sliders and you swing over top of it,” Cook said. “So, I’d say it’s almost doing less against a guy like that will help you be more successful.”
UNC coach Scott Forbes said that Clark’s size doesn’t matter because he can get three pitches over for strikes.
“He’s got a quick arm,” Forbes said. “He hides the ball; he’s got some deception. On his fastball, he’s got a little ride to it. He can go up in the zone when he needs to. He’s ultra-competitive. He’s very athletic.”
Clark has four complete games, including one shutout, while striking out 83 and walking only 20 in 89⅓ innings as the Mountaineers’ top starter.
Sprague has been the No. 2 starter most of the season but gets the call Friday because No. 1 starter Jason DeCaro threw 41 pitches as Monday night’s starter in the 10-inning 4-3 regional championship win over LSU after only two days of rest.
Sprague, who pitched 4⅓ shutout innings in Saturday’s 6–2 victory over LSU, throwing 93 pitches, isn’t the threat to pitch a complete game like Clark, though. He’s gone more than six innings only once, when he went eight innings on March 24 in a 9–2 home win over Georgia Tech.
The big-time atmosphere of the Super Regional opener isn’t likely to faze Sprague, whose last two starts have been against Wake Forest’s Chase Burns before 9,296 fans at the ACC tournament in Charlotte on May 24 and against LSU’s Luke Holman before 3,919 fans Saturday in the Chapel Hill Regional.
“It’s a special type of energy,” Sprague said. “If you can harness that and use it to your advantage, let it fire you up. But you can’t let it intimidate you, which I think I did a pretty good job of in Charlotte.
“Before the game, I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is incredible,’ ” Sprague said. ”I think it certainly helped me last weekend with a lot of fans. I think you just have to tap into it and let it boost you into another gear.”
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Not only will it be the first Super Regional game in West Virginia program history, Clark wasn’t pitching in front of a home crowd when he threw a complete game, giving up four hits, one run, no walks and striking out eight in Friday’s 4–1 win at the Tucson Regional over Dallas Baptist.
“I’m just gonna go out there try to throw strikes, compete,” Clark said. “They’ve got a pretty elite lineup, so just trying to keep them off-balance, pitch to my strengths, and hopefully all the things go well.”
After throwing 101 pitches on Friday, Clark threw 11 pitches in ⅔ of an inning to close out the Mountaineers’ regional-clinching 10–6 victory Sunday over Grand Canyon.
Sprague is excited about another huge game on a big stage.
“It’s an incredible opportunity,” Sprague said. “It’s everything you work for. I’ve been pretty spoiled by the last couple of starts. So, just another game. But it means the world that these guys got the confidence in me to go out there and help them win.”
NOTES — Thursday’s practice at Boshamer Stadium was the first June practice in West Virginia program history. … While the coach at East Carolina, Mazey said he had Forbes on his staff for 17 days before Forbes decided to join Coach Mike Fox’s staff at Carolina. … Rather than replacing a player on West Virginia’s charter flight, Mazey — retiring after the season — rode the bus to Chapel Hill. For similar reasons, he flew on a commercial flight coming back from Arizona rather than the team’s charter flight. … Mazey played at Boshamer Stadium during his career at Clemson (1985–88), played his first pro season in 1988 with the Burlington Indians of the Appalachian League, and coached at The Bosh in mid-week games while at East Carolina. Mazey, 4–1 against Carolina, was the Pirates’ coach when they made a Super Regional in 2004 and won 51 games. … All eight of the previous meetings between the schools were played at Boshamer Stadium. West Virginia won 5–1 in the last meeting in 2014, but the Tar Heels hold a 6–2 advantage. … After the 1,478 UNC season ticket holders got the first shot at Super Regionals, UNC got more than 5,700 ticket requests. Read more about that in this story. … UNC is the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Five of the eight previous times UNC has been a top-8 seed, the Tar Heels have made the College World Series: 2018, 2013, 2011, 2009 and 2008. … Of the other four ACC teams in Super Regionals, UNC only played two — N.C. State and Virginia — and lost two of three on the road against both. Carolina hasn’t played Florida State or Clemson. … Mike Monoco and Kyle Peterson are on the ESPN call for the series, with Friday’s game on ESPN and the rest of the series on ESPN2.
Chapel Hill Super Regional
Top-ranked and No. 5-seed North Carolina (46–14) vs. No. 21-ranked Arizona (43–19)
Best-of-3 series
Boshamer Stadium
Game 1 Friday: North Carolina 18, Arizona 2
Game 2 Saturday: Arizona 10, North Carolina 8; series tied at 1
Game 3 Sunday: Arizona 4, North Carolina 3; Arizona wins series 2–1
Arizona meets No. 11-ranked and No. 13-seed Coastal Carolina (53–11), which finished off a sweep of the Auburn Super Regional, beating No. 9-ranked and No. 4-seed Auburn 7–6 in 10 innings on Friday and 4–1 on Saturday.
UNC season statistics
West Virginia season statistics
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record/ TV * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 13–14 | Fri., Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11) | vs. Indiana | 3–0 |
| 17 | Tuesday | W, 10–0 (7) | vs. Richmond | 4–0 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 5–3 | vs. Longwood | 5–0 |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun | W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3 | vs. East Carolina | 6–1–1 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. N.C. A&T | 7–1–1 |
| 25 | Wednesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. VCU | 8–1–1 |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 10–1–1 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 21–1 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 11–1–1 |
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 5–1 | vs. Elon | 12–1–1 |
| 6–7 | Fri., Sat | L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12) | vs. No. 10 Virginia | 13–3–1, 1–2 ACC |
| 10 | Tuesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. Bucknell | 14–3–1 |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2 | at California | 17–3–1, 4–2 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 8–2 | vs. UNCG | 18–3–1 |
| 20–22 | Fri.–Sun. | W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6 | vs. Louisville | 20–4–1, 6–3 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 21–4–1 |
| 28, 29 | Sat., Sun | W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10 | at Notre Dame | 24–4–1, 9–3 |
| 31 | Tuesday | W, 5–4 (14) | vs. Campbell | 25–4–1 |
| April | ||||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | L, 6–1, W, 5–2, W, 8–7 | vs. No. 22 Boston College | 27–5–1, 11–4 |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Charlotte | ACCN |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 | at Clemson | Sunday ACCN |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW | |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. No. 3 Georgia Tech | Sat., Sun. ACCN |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point | |
| 23–25 | Thu.-Sat. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke | Thurs. ACCN |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 14 Coastal Carolina | ACCN |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens | |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | ACCN |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop | |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh | |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW | |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 | at N.C. State | Thurs. ACCN |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Charlotte | ACCN (final ESPN2) |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites | |
| June | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites | |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
- Games not on TV stream on ACC Network Extra unless otherwise note.
Top photo courtesy of UNC Athletics; Clark photo via wvusports.com
