University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Nc Greensboro
Baseball Falls 10-9 to UNC Greensboro
April 11, 2001 | Baseball
April 10, 2001
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro second baseman Shane Schumaker's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Ramon Balderas from third and pushed the Spartans over the visiting UNC Tar Heels 10-9 Tuesday evening at UNCG Baseball Stadium. Carolina drops to 20-17, while UNCG improves to 18-16.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a 4-1 lead after three innings and led 6-2 in the middle of the sixth, but UNCG scored eight runs over the final four innings, six of them unearned, for the victory. The Spartans capitalized on two Tar Heel errors and drew a combined 10 walks from UNC's six different pitchers in the comeback victory.
Carolina got going in the second inning when Jeremy Cleveland and Jason Howell led off the inning with singles. Sean Farrell's sacrifice bunt moved both Tar Heels into scoring position, and Ralph Roberts knocked them both home with a single to center field for the 2-0 lead.
Carolina loaded the bases with one out in the third and tacked on two more runs, one on a Jason Howell single and one on a Ralph Roberts walk, to take a 4-1 lead.
The Tar Heels added two unearned runs in the sixth to push the lead to 6-2, before UNCG answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning, two of them unearned. The Spartans appeared to have tied the game 6-6, but Sean Farrell threw out Chad Hayes rounding second base before the sixth run of the inning had passed home plate.
Ryan Blake's two-run homer in the seventh inning highlighted a three-run inning for the Tar Heels that extended UNC's lead back to four runs at 9-5. But the Spartans exploded for four unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game 9-9. Jesse Martin, who had a solo home run in the second inning, had a three-run homer to pull UNCG to within 9-8 Nick Lockhart followed with a solo shot in UNCG's next at bat, tying the game and setting the stage for Schumaker's game-winning sac fly in the ninth.
Jason Howell (5-2) allowed five runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings for the loss. Taft Cable (2-0) was the winner, pitching the final two scoreless innings for UNCG.
Ralph Roberts was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, his second four-RBI game in a row, while Sean Farrell doubled and tripled in going 2-for-4 as well. Adam Greenberg and Jason Howell also collected two hits apiece in the losing cause. Jeremy Cleveland singled and scored in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Cleveland had a team-high 11-game streak earlier this season.
The Tar Heels host Charlotte Wednesday at 7 p.m. before returning to ACC action with a three-game series against Virginia this weekend at Boshamer Stadium.
