University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
UNC- Wilmington
Tar Heels Hold On Against UNC-Wilmington, 8-7
May 14, 2003 | Baseball
May 14, 2003
WILMINGTON, N.C. -North Carolina (36-17 12-9 ACC) defeated UNC-Wilmington (36-19), 8-7 on Wednesday afternoon at Brooks Field. The Tar Heels used seven pitchers to end a two-game losing streak and avenge a loss to the Seahawks suffered 12 days ago. Jeremy Cleveland and Sammy Hewitt both had three hits for Carolina and Jonathan Hovis picked up his second win of the season in relief. Scott Senatore recorded the final out for the Tar Heels to pick up his second save.
Carolina jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Ryan Blake doubled off the right center field wall to lead off the inning and came around to score when Seahawks' third baseman Brad Denson bobbled a ground ball off the bat of Hewitt then threw it errantly over the first baseman's head. Chris Iannetta's sacrifice fly to right field brought Hewitt home with UNC's second run.
The Seahawks tied the score with two runs in the bottom of the third. Aaron Smith drew a leadoff walk and Chip Grawey legged out an infield single with two outs. Both runners then scored on Matt Wright's double into the left-center field gap.
The Tar Heels reclaimed the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Sean Farrell walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch then scored the go-ahead run on a single by Hewitt. Hewitt was able to move to third base as the ball went through Grawey's legs in left field. He came around to make the score 4-2 on an RBI groundout by freshman Mike Daniel.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth, UNC-Wilmington put three runs on the board to grab a 6-4 lead. An error by Carolina shortstop Chad Prosser allowed Denson to reach base, then Grawey's bunt single put two runners on with no outs. Wright then came up and lined a single into left field, scoring Denson and giving him three RBIs on the day. With Grawey on third, Jamie Hemingway then lifted a fly ball deep into the right-center field gap but Cleveland made a remarkable diving catch on the warning track and retired Hemingway, but Grawey tagged up and scored the go-ahead run. Matt Sutton followed with a single through the right side, but Cleveland made a strong throw to cut down Wright trying to go from first to third. The Seahawks would add one more run when Jason Schindler doubled off the left field wall, plating Sutton with the third run of the inning.
Carolina scored three times in the top of the seventh inning to go up 7-6. Iannetta and Prosser singled to lead off the inning and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Greg Mangum. Blair Waggett's RBI groundout to shortstop scored Iannetta, then with two outs, Cleveland blasted a two-run homer over the left field wall, his 17th of the season.
The Tar Heels will host the Virginia Cavaliers at Boshamer Stadium for the final ACC series of the season beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. Game two will be played on Friday evening at 7 p.m. and the final game of the series is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
