University of North Carolina Athletics
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Virginia Tech
Putkonen Pitches No. 4 North Carolina Past Virginia Tech
March 25, 2007 | Baseball
March 25, 2007
BLACKSBURG, Va. - North Carolina right-hander Luke Putkonen held Virginia Tech to just one run over seven innings, and right fielder Tim Fedroff had a two-run home run among his three hits to lead the No. 4 Tar Heels (22-4, 6-3 ACC) to a 13-1 series-clinching win over the Hokies (15-10, 4-5 ACC) Sunday in the series finale at English Field.
Putkonen moved to 5-0 on the season and 11-0 as a Tar Heel with seven strong innings in his first career ACC road start. The Marietta, Ga., native struck out seven and allowed just five hits and two walks. He gave up just two hits through five innings before running into a jam in the sixth but came back to strike out two in his final inning of work. Rob Catapano and Andrew Carignan retired all six batters they faced over the eighth and ninth innings.
Fedroff, who was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI, led off the game with a double and followed in the second with a two-run homer. He also singled and scored in the fourth.
In addition to Fedroff, Dustin Ackley was one of six other Tar Heels with two-hit games. Ackley extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a first-inning base hit for the third straight game, while Garrett Gore went 2-for-4 with a career-best three runs scored to push his career-best hitting streak to eight games.
Reid Fronk was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Tim Federowicz was 2-for-5 with two RBI. Kyle Seager and Seth Williams also added two hits apiece.
Hokie starter Adam Redd (2-1) went 3 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs on 12 hits. He entered the game with a 0.96 ERA after allowing just two runs in 18 2/3 innings prior to Sunday. Nate Parks had two of the Hokies' five hits.
After going just 2-for-20 in Saturday's loss, the top four batters in the Tar Heels' lineup had a hit in the first inning as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead. After Fedroff doubled down the right field line to lead off the game, Fronk singled to center to drive in the game's first run. An Ackley single put runners on the corners for Federowicz, who then singled through the left side to plate Fronk. An error by Virginia Tech left fielder Steve Bumbry on Federowicz's base hit allowed both runners to move into scoring position, and Josh Horton followed with a sacrifice fly to close out the scoring for UNC in the first.
Fedroff's third home run of the season gave the Tar Heels a 5-0 lead in the second, and he singled to help start a three-run rally in the fourth. After singles by Gore and Fedroff, Fronk drove in his second run of the game with a single. Ackley then added a sac fly to center to score Fedroff from third, and Federowicz followed with a double down the right field line to drive in Fronk all the way from first for an 8-0 lead.
After Virginia Tech got on the board in the sixth, the Tar Heels came back with five more runs in the seventh to put the game away. Williams and Gore drove in the first two runs with RBI singles, and a wild pitch and a two-run error by Hokie shortstop Warren Schaeffer allowed three more runs to cross the plate.
The Tar Heels are back in action at home Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Davidson and return to ACC action next weekend at home against Wake Forest.
