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No. 4 North Carolina Evens Series With 9-3 Victory Over No. 24 NC State
April 28, 2007 | Baseball
April 28, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C. - No. 4 North Carolina scored six runs in the eighth inning to break open a tense pitcher's duel and earn a 9-3 victory, evening the series with No. 24 N.C. State Saturday at Doak Field. Tar Heel freshman pitcher Alex White struck out a career-high 11 batters and allowed just two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. Rob Catapano (1-1) earned the win as North Carolina improved to 36-10, 15-8 in the ACC. N.C. State fell to 29-15, 12-11.
"It was a tight game and it was great to score some late runs to give us a little cushion," said head coach Mike Fox. "You always expect the unexpected when these two teams get together and tomorrow should be another good one."
N.C. State junior Andrew Brackman held the Tar Heels to just three hits and two runs through seven innings, striking out seven and walking four. He was lifted after the seventh and the Tar Heels took advantage with three consecutive hits, including a single by Seth Williams, a run-scoring double by Dustin Ackley and an RBI-single by Tim Federowicz off Eryk McConnell (2-2).
After Josh Horton walked, NC State third baseman Drew Martin threw wildly on Kyle Seager's sacrifice bunt and Federowicz scored. Consecutive singles by Chad Flack and Tim Fedroff plated Horton and Seager. Flack later scored on a fielder's choice by Williams.
Ackley had two doubles and scored two runs to pace the Tar Heels' nine-hit attack. Fedroff was 2-for-4 with a double and Reid Fronk and Josh Horton hit solo home runs. Fronk hit his fourth home run of the season on the second pitch of the game.
White pitched into trouble in the second inning, walking two and giving up a single to load the bases. He seemed poised to work out of trouble after striking out Dallas Poulk, but tossed a wild pitch strike that got past catcher Benji Johnson and allowed Ramon Corona to score the first Wolfpack run.
In the sixth inning, Ackley doubled off the left field wall and advanced to third on a fly out to right by Federowicz. Poulk scooped up Josh Horton's ground ball to second, but his throw home was wild allowing Ackley to score. N.C. State bounced back in bottom of the inning as catcher Caleb Mangum singled to left and left fielder Jeremy Synan ripped a triple to the gap between center and right field. State pushed across another run when Marcus Jones's two-out bunt, which was scored an error, allowed Synan to score.
The series continues Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
