CARY, NC Fourth-ranked North Carolina took an early-game lead and held on through nine innings of play to defeat the UNC Greensboro Spartans, 4-1, at the USA Baseball Training Complex Stadium in Cary, NC.
UNCG remained on the heels of fourth-ranked North Carolina after falling behind early in the game. The Spartans were able to notch one run on the board in the sixth, but the Tar Heels answered right back with two more of their own in the following inning.
The Spartans had their chance to get back in the game in the final inning, but the UNC battery caught them swinging away. With two outs, bases loaded, and the winning run holding the bat, Carolina threw its 16th strikeout of the evening to take the 4-1 victory.
With the outcome of the game, UNCG drops to 18-8, 4-2 SoCon while UNC improves to 22-5, 8-3 ACC.
The Tar Heels jumped on the board first with a leftfield, solo home run by Chad Flack in the second inning. Two innings later, Kyle Seager doubled to right field to plate Tim Fedroff and give UNC the 2-0 lead.
In inning six, left fielder Pedro Leon ripped his third triple of the season into right field to score fellow outfielder Sean Snell who had reached earlier on a left field double.
UNC extended their lead to 4-1 in the seventh scoring two off of hits through the right side by Fedroff and Seager.
The UNCG and the UNC pitching staffs combined for eight strikeouts between the eighth and the ninth inning. Carolina's final strikeout of the game stranded three Spartans on the bases and allowed the Tar Heels to walk away with the 4-1 victory.
UNC out-hit the Spartans, 9-5. The five UNCG hits were recorded by five different batters. Ricky Orton, Adam Deleo, and Ray Quinones all singled, while Sean Snell hit a double and Pedro Leon hit a triple.
North Carolina's top pitcher, Matt Harvey (3-0) tallied the win. In his four innings on the mound, Harvey retired five of 17 batters faced while allowing just one hit. Nate Striz (0-0) earned his second save of the season for the Tar Heels after striking out three of his six batters faced. Wes McCall (0-2) took the loss for the Spartans. In his three innings of work, McCall fanned two and allowed just three hits.
On Wednesday, UNCG will face-off with North Carolina A&T at NewBridge Bank Park, the home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers. First pitch is scheduled for 6pm. The Spartans will remain in Greensboro as they take on Southern Conference foes, the Furman Paladins, for a three-day, three-game series at the UNCG Baseball Stadium staring Friday, April 7. The first game of the series is slated to begin at 7pm, with Saturday's game starting at 2pm and Sunday's game getting underway at 1pm.
For news about UNCG baseball, complete season schedule, and any other information regarding Spartan athletics log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.
# # UNCG # #
North Carolina 4, UNC Greensboro 1 (Apr 01, 2008 at Cary, N.C.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UNC Greensboro...... 000 001 000 - 1 5 1 (18-8)
North Carolina...... 010 100 20X - 4 9 0 (22-5)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: UNC Greensboro - Wes McCall; Blake Hassebrock(4); Matt Bjorkstrom(5); James White(6); Alex Shelton(7); Rob Gilliam(7).
North Carolina - Harvey, M; Catapano, R(5); Wooten, R(7); Striz, N(9).
Win-Harvey, M(4-1)
Save-Striz, N(2)
Loss-Wes McCall(0-2)
HR NC - Flack, C (5).
McCall faced 2 batters in the 4th.
