University of North Carolina Athletics
Heels Slide By Coastal Carolina, 6-5
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
March 4, 1999
Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Matt McCay drove in Jarrett Shearin with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to give No. 5 North Carolina (12-0) a 6-5 win over Coastal Carolina (10-4) Thursday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. The win extended Carolina's winning streak to 12 games, the best start in school history.
The Tar Heels entered the bottom of the ninth with the game tied at 5-5. Shearin walked to lead off the inning, then Tyrell Godwin singled to centerfield to advance Shearin to second base. Ryan Earey followed by laying down a perfect bunt down the third base line, beating the throw to the bag and loading the bases. McCay then stepped to the plate and hit a fly ball to short centerfield, and Shearin raced home, barely sliding under Coastal Carolina catcher Kevin Schnall's tag to score the winning run.
Derrick DePriest (1-0) picked up the win in relief for UNC, tossing 1.2 innings of hitless, shutout ball and striking out two. Scott Sturkie (3-2) was the hard-luck loser for Coastal despite allowing just one run on two hits in 4.0 innings of work. Tar Heel pitchers held the Chanticleers to four hits on the day.
The Tar Heels got on the board with five runs in the bottom of the third inning, three of which came on a three-run home run by Shearin. Jay Madeira also had an RBI double and Dan Moylan a bases-loaded walk in the third.
Coastal scored a run in the fourth off UNC starter Mike Bynum and tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth. The Chanticleers loaded the bases when Bynum walked Eric Decker and Ricardo Ayala and gave up a single to Dorian Cameron. Corey Richardson came into the game to relieve Bynum and got Jason Davis to pop out to first for the second out of the inning before giving up a grand slam home run to Schnall that tied the game.
Carolina now journeys to Fresno, Calif., for a nine-day, six-game stint at the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic hosted by Fresno State University. The Tar Heels' first game is Monday verus New Mexico.
Note: Due to a technical problem, it may be Friday morning before Season Statistics are updated They will be published along with a preview of the Tar Heels' trip to California.
