North Carolina
Appalachian St
Hooper Leads Heels Past Appalachian, 4-3
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
March 17, 1999
Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Junior shortstop Clay Hooper hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie and give No. 3-ranked North Carolina a 4-3 victory over Appalachian State Wednesday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. Hooper went 3-for-3 at the plate with a sacrifice fly in addition to his fourth homer of the year.
With the win, Carolina's 29th straight non-conference home victory, Carolina improved to 18-1 this season. Appalachian fell to 3-17. Ryan Earey (1-0) picked up the win in relief for the Tar Heels, pitching 2.0 shutout innings while striking out four. Derrick DePriest picked up his fourth save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Will Lathan (0-2) was the hard-luck loser for the Mountaineers, giving up four runs (three earned) and striking out five in 8.0 innings of work.
Carolina got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning when Tyrell Godwin walked, advanced to third on a single by Earey and scored on Matt McCay's sacrifice bunt.
UNC added an unearned run in the third when Ryan Blake singled, advanced to third when Dan Moylan reached on an error and scored on Clay Hooper's sacrifice fly.
Appalachian pulled to within 2-1 in the top of the fourth when Wes Timmons walked, advanced to second on a sacrifice, moved over to third on a wild pitch by Michael Horney and scored on Chris Behne's infield single. The Mountaineers took a 3-2 lead in the fifth, manufacturing two runs on a double, a walk, a passed ball and a sacrifice fly.
Carolina tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Moylan that drove in Ryan Blake.
The Tar Heels broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth when Hooper hit a solo blast to left-centerfield that hit the scoreboard.
Carolina returns to action Friday when it opens Atlantic Coast Conference play with a three-game series versus Wake Forest. Gametime Friday is 3:00 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.
