University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Penn State
Penn State Ends UNC's Season, 10-3
May 28, 2000 | Baseball
May 28, 2000
Upper Montclair, N.J. - Freshman lefthander Kevin Damiano, just 5'9" and 165 pounds, was big enough to carry Penn State on his shoulders Sunday afternoon at Yogi Berra Stadium, leading the Nittany Lions to an improbable doubleheader sweep over North Carolina. After getting the win in game one in 3.1 innings of relief, Damiano pitched 5.1 strong innings to win game two, holding UNC at bay until his teammates exploded with a six-run sixth inning that led to a 10-3 Penn St. win and the regional title.
Damiano (3-2) picked up the win, while UNC starter Derrick Depriest (4-5) suffered the loss.
The Nittany Lions took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Michael Campo doubled to right, extending his hitting streak to 41 games. Zach Smithlin's sacrifice bunt moved Campo to third before Shawn Fagan's sacrifice fly to right gave PSU an early 1-0 lead.
Carolina briefly tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth on freshman Sean Farrell's ninth home run of the season.
Willie Melendez led off the decisive sixth inning with a single to left, then Campo doubled to left, moving Melendez to third. Smithlin's infield single loaded the bases before Fagan struck out for the first out of the inning.
Donnie Wright's single to right scored Melendez and Campo to give Penn St. a 3-1 lead. Brett Showalter doubled to right to make it 4-1, then an intentional walk loaded the bases for Eric Spadt, who took full advantage of the situation. Spadt's single to left upped PSU's lead to 6-1 and forced DePriest out of the game. Ryan Snare came on in relief and got pinch hitter rian Bishop to strike out, but Melendez, in his second at bat in the inning, singled to drive in the inning's final run for a 7-1 lead.
Ryan Earey's solo home run in the bottom of the sixth cut the lead to 7-2 before the Nittany Lions manufactured single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Earey's sacrifice fly to left drove in Adam Greenberg from third in the bottom of the eighth to make it 9-3, but Scott Hamilton's ninth-inning homer to left resulted in the final 10-3 margin.
North Carolina finishes its season with a 46-17 record, while Penn State (45-17) goes on to face either Arizona St. or Texas.
Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue.com
