University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Florida State
Baseball Takes Second Straight From No. 1 FSU With 7-1 Win
March 23, 2002 | Baseball
March 23, 2002
CHAPEL HILL - Freshman Garry Bakker pitched seven three-hit innings and Chris Maples drove in four runs as North Carolina took its second straight game from No. 1 Florida State with a 7-1 win Saturday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina (14-8) has won eight straight games and is 5-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1995, which is also the last year UNC won two games against FSU in a season.
"This is our home park and we fully believed that we were going to win and that we could win," said UNC head coach Mike Fox. "Our players believed it, and they're playing like it. They're playing with a great deal of confidence and we certainly felt like we were capable of beating them."
Mike Futrell drew a leadoff walk in the first and scored on a double by Ryan Barthelemy for a quick 1-0 FSU lead, but Bakker shut down the Seminoles from there.
Chris Iannetta had an RBI single to tie the game 1-1 in the second inning and Carolina got three in the third for a 4-1 lead. Russ Adams doubled to the gap in right and scored on a Sean Farrell single, while Maples added a two-run double for the three-run advantage.
Maples continued his spectacular play of late with a two-run home run in the fifth, which pushed the score to 6-1. Maples, who had two homers in Carolina's nine-run seventh inning on Friday, has hit five of his team-high nine home runs in the last five games and seven in the last eight games. Sean Farrell led off the seventh with a home run to left field to give UNC its final run and its 19th homer in the last five games.
Bakker pitched into the eighth inning, but walked the leadoff batter and was relieved by Michael Gross. Gross struck out FSU's 3-4 hitters, Nick Rogers and Barthelemy, to end the inning.
"Throwing well against Florida State is something you always dream of," said Bakker, who improved to 2-1 with the win. "If you can shut them down like that it's a great feeling. I got ahead of their batters today, and once you do that you can get your off-speed pitches going. You're pretty much in the driver's seat from there once you get the first strike over."
Maples moved to the mound from third base and pitched a scoreless ninth to close the game for Carolina. Maples walked two batters and allowed a single to load the bases, but he struck out Futrell to end the game.
Sunday's first pitch has been moved to 11:30 a.m. to accommodate Florida State's travel plans. Carolina's players and coaches will be available on the field following Sunday's game to meet and greet fans as part of "Meet The Team Day" at Boshamer Stadium.
