May 7, 2008

No. 2 Carolina Tops UNF To Reach 40-Win Mark

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CARY, N.C. - Dustin Ackley and Tim Fedroff each drove in three runs to lead No. 2 North Carolina to an 11-5 come-from-behind win over North Florida and its 40th victory of the season Wednesday at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex. At 40-8 through 48 games, this year's Tar Heels have matched the 2006 squad as the quickest in school history to 40 wins.

Carolina, who joins Texas A&M and Florida State as the only 40-win teams in the country, extended its school-record stretch of 40-victory seasons to seven.

Paced by Ackley and Fedroff's run production, UNC rallied from a four-run deficit to match its biggest comeback victory of the season. Seven Tar Heels posted multi-hit games, including Garrett Gore, who was 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI. Ackley, Kyle Shelton, Kyle Seager, Tim Federowicz, Brett Thomas and Seth Williams each chipped in with two of Carolina's 17 base hits on the night.

Right-hander Colin Bates (5-0) picked up the win for the Tar Heels with 1 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Righty Nate Striz followed with two scoreless frames. Left-hander Logan Munson, righty Rob Wooten and Federowicz, who struck out the side in the ninth, each worked a scoreless inning.

McGuire Tosses Gem as No. 25 Tech Baseball Stops No. 8 Georgia, 11-1

ATHENS, Ga. - Deck McGuire, one of six freshmen to start against No. 8 Georgia Wednesday night, pitched a gem to lead No. 25 Georgia Tech (34-14) to an 11-1 victory over the Bulldogs (31-16-1) at Foley Field. The win was the Yellow Jackets' second this season against Georgia, as Tech improved to 11-0 against teams from the Peach State in 2008.

McGuire (8-0) iced the Bulldog's bats through seven innings, holding Georgia to just one run on four hits while striking out a career-high nine batters to pick up his team-leading eighth win of the season. Andrew Robinson retired the side in the eighth inning on just six pitches before Taylor Wood closed out the game by tossing the ninth.

Juniors Charlie Blackmon and Luke Murton paced the Yellow Jackets with three hits apiece. Both players went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored against the Bulldogs. Blackmon, Murton and Brad Feltes all hit home runs to extend Tech's streak to 16-straight games with a homer. It was the 21st time this season the Yellow Jackets have hit more than one home run in a game.

Each of Tech's last nine runs were scored with two outs, including both run-scoring hits by Feltes, who went 2-for-5 with four RBI in the game.

Blackmon extended his hitting streak to 12 games when he reached on a leadoff single in the first inning. He moved to second when Luke Murton was hit by a pitch and scored the Jackets' first run of the game on an RBI single by Derek Dietrich.

Maryland Baseball Defeats In-State Rival Towson, 7-4

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland baseball team defeated in-state rival Towson for the first time in three games this season, winning 7-4 Wednesday night at Shipley Field, giving the Terps 28 wins on the season and guaranteeing at least a .500 record for the first time since 2002.

The Terps (28-24) lost the first two meeting against the Tigers (24-24), but got a solid pitching effort from sophomore Scott Swinson (Ellicott City, Md./George Washington University), the team's weekend ace, and the bullpen to avoid the season sweep.

Maryland never trailed in the game. The Terps grabbed a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on back-to-back home runs from Nick Jowers (Beltsville, Md./DeMatha Catholic) and Jensen Pupa (Germantown, Md./Northwest). Jowers' homer was a two-run shot. It was the fourth time this season the Terps have hit back-to-back home runs.

However, the three-run lead evaporated quickly in the top of the fourth. An RBI double by Matt Collins and two-run triple by Jason Stifler tied the game at three apiece with still no outs in the inning. Swinson did not let the Tigers take the lead, though, getting two infield pop-ups and a fly-out to strand Stifler at third.

Joe Palumbo (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) delivered a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the Terps up 4-3, but the Tigers tied the game again with a run in the top of the sixth.

Two-Out Hits Lead Tigers Over Paladins 11-5 Wednesday

Greenville, SC - Clemson scored seven of its 11 runs with two outs on its way to an 11-5 victory over Furman in front of 5,030 fans at Fluor Field on Wednesday night. The Tigers improved to 25-23-1 overall, while the Paladins fell to 29-17.

Every Tiger starter tallied a hit, as Clemson totaled 15 in the game. It was the fifth time this season the Tigers tallied 15 hits or more in a game. Clemson also went 9-for-15 with two outs, 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and 11-for-21 with runners on base.

Ben Paulsen was the sparkplug for the Tigers' attack, as he went 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBIs. In three career games at Fluor Field, Paulsen is 9-for-13 (.692) with three doubles, one homer, seven runs scored, and seven RBIs.

Doug Hogan and Kyle Parker added two hits and two RBIs, while Matt Sanders totaled two RBIs. Jeff Schaus extended his hitting streak to 12 games as well.

Tiger reliever Matt Zoltak (4-0) pitched 1.0 scoreless and hitless innings to earn the victory. Spencer Hale (1-1) suffered the loss, as he allowed three runs on three hits in 1.0 innings pitched.

Jacksonville Trips Up Florida State 7-6

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Tallahassee, Fla. - Streaks are made to be broken and on Wednesday night it happened inside Dick Howser Stadium. Jacksonville (25-24) scored three runs in the top of the eighth and held on to upset third-ranked Florida State (40-8) 7-6. The loss snapped the Seminoles' 25-game win streak over the Dolphins at home as the last JU victory in Tallahassee came on May 1, 1991. Florida State fell to 11-3 in one-run games following Wednesday night's defeat.

Florida State trailed by as many as four after the first three innings as the Dolphins scored three in the second and then capitalized on a Seminole error in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Catcher Brad Simmons gave Jacksonville its first lead of the game on a two-run blast over the fence in right for his second round tripper of the season. Thomas Myers would add a third run in the second scoring on a wild pitch by FSU starter Mike McGee after reaching base on a walk.

In the third, the Dolphins took a 4-0 lead taking advantage of the first Seminole error the game.

The lead was quickly erased as the Seminoles battled back with a run in the fourth, two in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Jack Rye registered the first FSU run of the game with an RBI single to right scoring Jason Stidham who reached on an infield single to second.

Tyler Holt cut the deficit to one with a two-run single in the fifth. With one out, Ohmed Danesh laced a single to right center and moved to third on a single to left by Stuart Tapley. Tapley took second on the play as the throw from left field went to third. One batter later, Holt knocked a single back up the middle scoring Danesh and Tapley to make the score 4-3 in favor of Jacksonville. The base hit extended Holt's streak of reaching base to all 48 games.

Flames hold off Hokies for 7-6 victory

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BLACKSBURG, Va. - Liberty University built a 7-0 lead, then held off a furious Virginia Tech rally to hand the Hokies a 7-6 non-conference loss at English Field on Wednesday night. The loss dropped Tech to 20-28 on the year, while the Flames improved to 26-23.

Liberty started building its lead early. The Flames used a Virginia Tech throwing error and back-to-back singles by third baseman Cody Brown and designated hitter Garrett Young to load the bases with no outs in the top of the second inning. Tech starting pitcher Sean McDermott (Walpole, Mass.) battled back to strike out Flames' left fielder Aaron Grijalva, and then coaxed center fielder Joseph Feeley to pop out to first baseman Sean O'Brien (Chappaqua, N.Y.) in foul territory. But just when it looked like the Hokie freshman left-hander was about to escape a big inning, Liberty nine-hole hitter Aaron Phillips poked a 1-1 McDermott offering over the left field fence to put Tech in a 4-0 hole.

The Flames extended their lead to 6-0 in the third, chasing McDermott in the process. Catcher Errol Hollinger started the inning with a bunt single and advanced to second on a wild throw by Tech third baseman Michael Seaborn (Atlanta, Ga.). Consecutive doubles by first baseman David Giammaresi and Brown led to runs before senior right-hander David Cross (Scottsdale, Ariz.) took the mound and retired the next two batters, leaving Brown stranded on second.

No. 17 NC State Baseball Falls To UNCW In 11 Innings, 3-2

WILMINGTON, N.C. - Heroics, controversy, great pitching, this one had everything, except for a happy ending for the visitors. Rhett Miller scored all the way from first base on Jes Snyder's 11th-inning double Wednesday night to lift UNC Wilmington to a 3-2 victory over 17th-ranked NC State in a thriller at Brooks Field.

With a sellout crowd in excess of 3000 in attendance, the Wolfpack and Seahawks played a game that had all the tension and excitement of a postseason tournament game. In particular, the pitching was exceptional on both sides.

Five NC State pitchers combined on a five-hitter, holding the Seahawks hitless for seven consecutive innings at one point and retiring 21 of 24 hitters in that stretch. The Wolfpack bullpen worked eight innings and allowed just one earned run on two hits. Starter Jeff Stallings worked three strong innings, allowing a run on three hits. Sam Brown pitched 4 1/3 innings without allowing a hit. Lefthanders Drew Taylor and Jake Kensmoe came out of the pen in key spots to face lefthanded hitters and retired both. Kyle Rutter worked 1 2/3 innings and allowed only a lone base hit. Jason Zinser, who took the loss to fall to 0-1, pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the 10th, stranding a pair of runners.