University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Seton Hall
Heels Top Seton Hall For Series Sweep
February 27, 2000 | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2000
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Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Tyrell Godwin and Ryan Earey powered the 4th-ranked University of North Carolina baseball team to a 7-5 win over Seton Hall Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. The duo was a combined 5-for-8 at the plate and knocked in five of UNC's seven runs in the game. The Tar Heels stay undefeated in 2000 at 13-0, while the Pirates start the season 0-3.
Scott Autrey earned his first start of the season for the Tar Heels and went five innings for his third win. He surrendered four runs, three of them earned, and struck out six Pirate batters. Ace reliever Derrick DePriest came on in the seventh and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings for his third save. He struck out two and did not allow a hit.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first and added another three runs in the fourth to pull ahead of the visiting Pirates 6-2. Earey, Godwin and Matt McCay each knocked in runs in the first for the early lead. Carolina was aided in the three-run fourth by three Pirate errors, but the highlight of the inning came on a two-run blast by Godwin over the wall in right-center field. Godwin was sharp all day at the plate, batting 3-for-4 with three RBI.
The Pirates battled back, cutting the Carolina lead to 6-5 with three runs of their own in the sixth inning, including a two-run home run by Alfie Critelli off of UNC reliever Matt Tanner. But Earey took over on the mound, his fourth pitching appearance of the season, and shut the Pirates down for 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. He followed that up with a double off the left field wall to drive home Dan Moylan and extend the UNC lead once again in the seventh. Earey was 2-for-4 on the day and 6-for-11 with 10 RBI in the three-game sweep of Seton Hall. A seventh-inning single by McCay extended the senior right-fielder's career-high hitting streak to 10 games.
Carolina has won 44 consecutive games versus non-conference opponents in Chapel Hill, a streak that dates back to the Seton Hall series in 1998. The Tar Heels are also off to their best start since opening the season last year with a school-record 16-game winning streak.
Carolina continues its 12-game homestand with a 3 p.m. game versus Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday (March 1) at Boshamer Stadium. UNC, 7-0 at home this year, plays 18 of its next 21 games in Chapel Hill. Carolina's lone road trip in that stretch is its ACC-opening series at Georgia Tech March 17-19.
