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Clemson
Miller, No. 9 UNC Shut Down Clemson, 2-1
March 18, 2005 | Baseball
March 18, 2005
CLEMSON, S.C. - North Carolina sophomore lefty Andrew Miller carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning for the second time this season and struck out 11 Clemson batters to lead the No. 9 Tar Heels (15-3, 2-0 ACC) to a 2-1 victory over the Tigers (6-8, 0-1 ACC) Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Miller (5-0) allowed one unearned run on just two hits and five walks over seven innings, and the only ball hit out of the infield against him was the sixth-inning single that broke up his no-hit bid. Miller's 11 strikeouts marked his third career double-digit strikeout game and second this season. He also carried a no-hitter into the sixth against Birmingham Southern on February 27.
Junior Jonathan Hovis came on to pitch the eighth and ninth innings and struck out two en route to his first save of the season. Both Miller (0.69) and Hovis (0.95) sport earned run averages below 1.00 this season.
Freshman third baseman Reid Fronk was 3-for-4 with an RBI double to lead the Tar Heels at the plate. Fronk, who is riding a career-best five-game hitting streak, now has three hits in two of his last three games and multi-hit games in three of his last four.
Freshman shortstop Josh Horton gave the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single into shallow center off Clemson starter Josh Cribb. The hit scored center fielder Chase Younts, who doubled to left center and then took third as Fronk was tagged out in a run-down between home and third on Younts' hit. Fronk started the rally with an infield single to second.
In the fifth, Fronk doubled in his second at-bat of the night to push the Carolina lead to 2-0. Left fielder Mike Daniel was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and scored from first on Fronk's hit into the gap in right center.
Clemson threatened in the fifth when center fielder David Williams walked and took second on a throwing error by Miller with no outs. But Miller buckled down and got out of the inning with two strikeouts and a grounder to second to hold the two-run Tar Heel advantage.
A second Miller throwing error in the sixth would prove costly, as the Tigers got on the board to trim the lead to 2-1. Second baseman Taylor Harbin singled to center to with one out to break up the no-hit bid, and he took third when a pickoff attempt by Miller was wide of UNC first baseman Chad Flack. Harbin scored from third when designated hitter Kris Harvey slapped a dribbler up the third base line that died in the grass and failed to roll foul.
In the bottom of the seventh, Miller was able to thwart a Tiger scoring opportunity for the second time in the last three innings, as he sandwiched his 10th and 11th strikeouts of the night around a walk to get out of the inning with runners of first and second.
Both Tar Heels runs were charged to Cribb, who took the loss to fall to 1-2. He allowed eight hits and no walks and struck out a career-high 10 batters over 7.2 innings. Stephen Clyne worked the final 1.1 innings for the Tigers.
Harbin led Clemson at the plate with two of the Tigers' three hits.
The series resumes at 4 p.m. Saturday with sophomore right-hander Daniel Bard schedule to start for the Tar Heels. The game will be televised across the Carolinas on C-SET.
