Baseball ACCtion: Friday, May 16 :: Conference action includes North Carolina winning at Miami to even up series between country's top two teams.

May 16, 2008

No. 2 North Carolina Evens Series With No. 1 Canes, 10-6

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Center fielder Seth Williams jump-started North Carolina's offense with a pair of early run-scoring doubles, and the No. 2 Tar Heels held on for a 10-6 win over No. 1 Miami Friday at Mark Light Field. Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff and Kyle Seager each had three hits as Carolina (44-10, 21-7 ACC) pounded out 16 hits to even the series at a game apiece.

Williams put UNC on the board with an RBI double in the second inning and followed with a two-run double in the fourth. The sophomores took over from there, as Fedroff was 3-for-5 with his team-best 10th home run, Ackley was 3-for-4 with an RBI and Seager was 3-for-4. In addition to Williams, Tim Federowicz and Garrett Gore also finished with two hits on the night.

On the mound, UNC right-hander Adam Warren (8-1) held Miami hitless until the fifth inning and finished with four runs allowed on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. The New Bern, N.C., native struck out seven and walked just two to improve to 21-1 in his career.

Yellow Jackets Even Series With 14-8 Win at Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Tony Plagman drove in four runs on three hits and Luke Murton and Brad Feltes added three hits apiece as No. 25 Georgia Tech (37-17, 15-14 ACC) evened the weekend series at Virginia (36-18, 15-14) with a 14-8 win Friday night at Davenport Field.

With the victory, the Yellow Jackets moved into a tie with Virginia for fifth place in the ACC Baseball standings, and the two teams will play the rubber game Saturday to break the tie. First pitch for Saturday's game is at 12 p.m., with Zach Von Tersch taking the mound for the Yellow Jackets.

Friday's game belonged to the Yellow Jacket hitters, who pounded out 14 runs on 19 hits, including five doubles, two triples and home run. Plagman went 3-for-5 with a two-run double, RBI triple and solo home run to lead the Yellow Jacket offense.

FSU Edges NC State With 1-0 Victory To Even Series

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Friday night at Dick Howser Stadium featured a classic pitchers dual as third-ranked Florida State (45-9, 23-6 ACC) edged No. 22 NC State (37-17, 19-9 ACC) 1-0 to even the series at a game a piece. The lone run came in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly to deep center off the bat of Jack Rye to score Buster Posey. Three Seminole pitchers combined to blank the Wolfpack for the fifth time in the series and for the first time since 1998.

Elih Villanueva once again turned in another sensational performance on the mound as he worked seven plus shutout innings in earning the no decision. The Miami, Fla., native yielded just three hits on the evening while striking out six. He worked around four walks and two hit by pitches and was able to work out of two bases loaded jams in the first and seventh innings.

"I've been in a lot of ballgames in this ballpark and there haven't been many 1-0 ballgames," explained head coach Mike Martin. "I tell you right now North Carolina State pitched extremely well. That was just a beautifully pitched ball game by them. And certainly Elih Villanueva, Jimmy Marshall and Buster Posey pitched great for us. This was a big win."

Mellies Pitches Wake Forest to 2-0 Shutout of Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Senior Charlie Mellies is making his final games as a Demon Deacon count. Mellies turned in his second consecutive complete game to lead Wake Forest to a 2-0 shutout of Boston College Friday afternoon at Commander Shea Field.

With the win, the Deacons move to 24-28 overall and 13-15 in the ACC. Wake has won eight of its last nine games and six straight in conference play. The Eagles fall to 25-27 overall and 8-21 in the league play.

In a brisk contest that lasted just over two hours, Mellies and BC starter Terry Doyle battled in a classic pitchers' duel. Both seniors, the two hurlers went toe-to-toe before Mellies finally prevailed in the end.

Hokies Even Series With 8-5 Win Over Duke

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech Hokies capitalized on Duke's three errors, two balks and one wild pitch, while getting another solid performance out of freshman pitcher Justin Wright, to register an 8-5 ACC win on Friday evening at English Field.

Wright, who defeated No. 1 Miami a week ago with a complete game, tossed eight innings this time around to improve his record to 4-0. The lefty from Chesterfield, Va., scattered five runs on 12 hits and three walks, but struck out four and kept the game in control until his exit in the ninth.

Now at 23-31, the Hokies have an identical record to 2007 and have equaled their highest win total since joining the ACC (They also won 23 games in 2005). At 6-23 in conference play, Tech has a chance on Saturday to also match its league record from a season ago.

Florida Freshmen, Sanders Lead Tigers to 7-3 Win at Central Florida Friday

ORLANDO, Fla. - Freshman Florida natives Kyle Parker and Jeff Schaus both hit home runs, and Matt Sanders totaled a career-high four hits to lead Clemson to a 7-3 win over Central Florida in front of 1,452 fans at Jay Bergman Field on Friday night. The Tigers, who took a 2-0 series lead, improved to 29-25-1, while Central Florida dropped to 31-24.

Parker hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning that gave Clemson the lead for good, while Schaus hit a two-out, three-run homer in the eighth inning that stretched the Tigers' lead from one run to four runs.

Sanders had a career day, as he went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for the Tigers, who had 12 hits in the game. Doug Hogan added three hits, including two doubles.

Tiger starter Graham Stoneburner (6-4) allowed two runs on four hits in 5.2 innings pitched to earn the victory. Ryan Hinson pitched 2.0 innings in relief, allowing no earned runs, and Matt Vaughn pitched 1.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts to pick up his 10th save of the season.