University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Miami
Tar Heels Drop Marathon To No. 4 Miami, 6-5 In 16
May 17, 2014 | Baseball
CORAL GABLES, Fla. --- Tyler Palmer drove in two runs with his fifth hit of the day and No. 4 Miami rallied for a 6-5 win over North Carolina in 16 innings Friday at Alex Rodriguez Park. Carolina scored in the top of the 16th on a Parks Jordan RBI single before the Hurricanes ralled for two in the bottom of the 16th in the longest game for either team in 2014. Landon Lassiter and Alex Raburn had four hits each for the Tar Heels, who matched a season high with 16 hits for the second game in a row.
The game was the first of a doubleheader that necessitated by a weather postponement Thursday, when severe weather pounded the Miami area for most of the day.
Carolina (31-22, 14-14 ACC) jumped on Miami starter Chris Diaz early, scoring three times in the first thanks to four consecutive hits. Skye Bolt's double plated Jordan to make it 1-0 before Wood Myers singled home to more.
But Miami (39-14, 23-5 ACC) rallied to tie it in the second against Trent Thornton. Aided by an error and a bases-loaded hit by pitch, the Hurricanes scored three times on just two hits against the sophomore right-hander.
Raburn reached on an infield single and took second on a throwing error with two outs in the fourth and scored on Tom Zengel's RBI hit to left to restore the Tar Heel lead. UNC would stay in front until the eighth, when Miami got to reliever Reilly Hovis for the tying run.
Called on to replace Thornton in the seventh, Hovis retired the first four batters he faced before running into trouble. Brandon Lopez reached on a single and stole second before Hovis got Johnny Ruiz to foul out to left. With two gone, Alex Hernandez lifted a double to left that landed just inside the line to tie the game.
For the next seven innings, the two bullpens matched one another zero for zero, as neither team was able to score until the 16th. For Carolina, Spencer Trayner was especially effective in long relief with five scoreless innings to keep the Tar Heels in it. The freshman from Tampa allowed just three hits and one walk between the 10th and 15th.
Miami looked poised to win it in the 15th when Trayner surrendered a leadoff double to Palmer. Zach Rice entered the game and intentionally walked Zack Collins before striking out Willie Abreu swinging. Trevor Kelley (1-3) then took over and got a pair of fly-ball outs to escape the jam.
Raburn led off the top of the 16th with a double to left off Javi Salas (4-3), who worked five innings of his own for the 'Canes. Salas got two quick outs and was on the verge of stranding Raburn, but Jordan singled up the middle to score Raburn and give UNC a 5-4 lead.
But it would prove to be a short-lived advantage as the Hurricanes put together three hits to win it in the bottom half. Hernandez led off the 16th with a single, but Adrian Chacon cut down the lead runner with a heads-up play on a sacrifice attempt. Kelley then walked Ricky Eusebio before Carey reached on an infield single. With the bases loaded, Palmer lined one past Raburn at first and Ramirez's throw home was just late as David Thompson scored the winning run.
The 16-inning marathon was the longest Miami game ever played at Mark Light Field and the longest for the Tar Heels since last season's 18-inning win over NC State in the ACC tournament.
