University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Clemson (ACC Tournament)
Baseball Falls To Clemson, 7-6
May 17, 2001 | Baseball
May 17, 2001
FORT MILL, S.C. - Clemson got out to a 7-1 lead and held on for a 7-6 win over North Carolina Thursday afternoon in ACC Baseball Tournament action here at Knights Stadium. The second-seeded Tigers ended Carolina's 2001 season at 31-26 with the win. Sixth-seeded Carolina, which lost Wednesday to Wake Forest, finished the double-elimination tournament 0-2.
"We are certainly disappointed we did not win the game," head coach Mike Fox said after the game. "But I'm very proud of my players today for how hard they played. It is always a concern for a coach after a late night loss and having to rebound so quickly. I asked them to come out and play with a lot of passion and I think we did that. We just could not get it done against a good Clemson team."
Clemson got a run in the first and then jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third with a three-run homer by Khalil Greene off UNC starter Scott Manshack, who took the loss to drop to 3-5. After Carolina had cut the lead to 4-1, the Tigers added three more runs in the fifth and led 7-1.
But the Tar Heels fought back with one run in the bottom of the fifth, three in the seventh and one final run in the ninth. Sean Farrell had RBI doubles in the third and fifth innings for UNC's first two runs of the afternoon, and Carolina knocked Clemson ace Steve Reba from the game with two outs in the seventh. Ralph Roberts and Ryan Blake each had RBI singles in the inning and Jason Howell had an RBI on a fielder's choice.
Carolina had its chances in the eighth and ninth, but could muster only one run. Following a one-out double by Brandon Russell in the eighth, Adam Greenberg hit a short fly to left, but Tiger left-fielder Casey Stone made a diving grab for the second out of the inning. Russ Adams reached on a walk and Farrell came to the plate with runners at the corners. Josh Cram entered the game for the Tigers and Farrell ripped a grounder right back up the middle off of Cram's chest, but the reliever collected the ball and got the third out of the inning.
Roberts and Howell then led off the ninth with singles before Ryan Blake struck out in a marathon at bat for the first out. Chad Prosser drove in Roberts with a single, while Jeremy Cleveland hit into a fielder's choice for the second out of the ninth. Russell came to the plate with runners at the corners and struck a hard grounder down the third-base line, but Jeff Baker snatched the ball and threw it to first for the game's final out.
Reba got the win to improve to 11-3, while Cram earned his sixth save.
Prosser finished 2-for-5 at the plate and led the Tar Heels for the season with a .357 batting average. Greenberg, Farrell, Roberts, Howell and Blake also had two hits apiece, as UNC out-hit Clemson 15-9, but stranded 12 base runners in the loss.
"When you out-hit a team 15-9 you are probably supposed to win, but it didn't happen," Fox said. "I think we are a better team than we were three or four weeks ago. I take some comfort in that. Our younger guys, and some of our returning players started playing with confidence. They are beginning to understand what it takes to play at this level. That will be a positive for us as we go into next fall and get ready for next season."
