University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Towson
Tar Heels Split Doubleheader With Towson
March 21, 2001 | Baseball
March 21, 2001
Box Score & Play-by-Play: Game 1
Box Score & Play-by-Play: Game 2
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The University of North Carolina baseball team split a doubleheader Wednesday with Towson at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina needed 10 innings to take a 7-6 win in Game 1, while Towson responded with a 4-0 win in the seven-inning second game.
In Game 1, Carolina went into the bottom half of the sixth trailing 6-1, but the Tar Heels rallied with one run in the sixth, four runs in the seventh and then the game-winner - a two-out, RBI single by Ryan Blake - in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 7-6 victory over the Tigers.
Carolina used three different pitchers over the first 5.2 innings, but Whitley Benson (3-0) was brilliant over the final 4.1 innings to get the win. Benson struck out six and walked one while holding the Tigers hitless and scoreless.
UNC spread its 11 hits over eight different batters. Russ Adams was 3-for-5 and scored two runs, while Blake was 2-for-5 with two RBIs to lead the way for the Heels.
Towson jumped on the Tar Heels early with two runs in the second and another in the third before UNC got on the scoreboard with one run in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Blake's two-out double scored Russ Adams and cut Towson's lead to 3-1.
Towson centerfielder Gregg Davies answered in the fifth with a solo homer, and following a 76-minute rain delay in the middle of the fifth Scott Bacon's two-run double in the top of the sixth pushed the Tigers ahead 6-1.
Carolina roared back with one run in the bottom half of the sixth and four more in the seventh to tie the game at 6. Sean Farrell started the seventh with a double and the Tar Heels added four more singles before the Tigers recorded their first out of the inning. Chad Prosser, Ron Braun, Jason Howell and Adam Greenberg each knocked in runs in the inning.
Towson got off to a hot start in Game 2, with one run in four of the first five innings. Meanwhile, Towson's Matt Nein held the Tar Heels hitless through the first four innings en route to the 4-0 seven-inning win, Carolina's first scoreless game since a 3-0 loss to Wake Forest in the 1998 ACC Tournament. The Tigers had 13 hits compared to UNC's five.
Ryan Avila was 4-for-5 and Davies was 3-for-4 to lead the Tiger attack in Game 2.
Bo Dickerson (0-1) allowed three runs on seven hits over 3.0 innings for the loss, while Nein (2-0) went the full seven innings for his second win of the year.
Carolina faces its first ACC road test this weekend in Tallahassee with a three-game series versus Florida State. The Tar Heels and Seminoles play Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
NOTE: At 3:30 Wednesday afternoon the core of the campus network lost power, preventing us from bringing you live updates from the last half of Wednesday's first game. We regret the inconvenience.
