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No. 7 South Carolina Bests No. 16 Tar Heels, 9-4
May 11, 2004 | Baseball
May 11, 2004
FORT MILL, S.C. - No. 7 South Carolina (35-13) hit three solo home runs and took advantage of four North Carolina errors to claim a 9-4 win over the 16th-ranked Tar Heels (34-13) in the first annual Battle of Border Tuesday at Knights Stadium. The midweek loss was the first of the season for UNC, which has lost back-to-back games for just the third time in 2004.
Second baseman Kevin Melillo, designated hitter Hank Parks and right fielder Brendan Winn each went deep for the Gamecocks, who added five unearned runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to pull away from Carolina.
Third baseman Sammy Hewitt and left fielder Mike Daniel each hit two-run homers for the Tar Heels. Daniel went 3-for-3 with a walk, while Hewitt was 2-for-3 with a walk. Right fielder Marshall Hubbard went 0-for-4 on the night, snapping a season-best 18-game hitting streak.
South Carolina freshman Harris Honeycutt (1-0) worked five innings and allowed four runs on four hits and two walks, while striking out seven. Tar Heel starter Robert Woodard (5-2) worked 3.1 innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits and one walk in the loss. After entering the game with just two home runs allowed this season, Woodard gave up three long balls to the Gamecocks Tuesday.
Melillo, who went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, put the Gamecocks up 1-0 in the second with a solo homer to right, his eighth of the season. The run snapped a string of 12.2 scoreless innings worked by Woodard, who had not allowed a run since an April 14 appearance at Charlotte.
However, the South Carolina lead was short-lived, as Hewitt put the Tar Heels up 2-1 with a two-run shot to right, his 11th of the season. Daniel started the one-out rally with a single to left before scoring on the Hewitt homer.
Lead off home runs from Parks and Winn in the third and fourth innings lifted the Gamecocks to a 3-2 lead. Parks' shot to left center was his fifth of the year, while Winn's blast to left was his team-best 17th. Woodard was lifted after singles by Melillo and first baseman Steve Pearce, who both later scored on a throwing error by Tar Heel second baseman Bryan Steed to make the score 5-2.
The fifth home run of the night got the Tar Heels back in the game at 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth. Daniel hit a low liner just inside the left field foul pole for his second homer of the season. Jay Cox led off the inning with a walk and scored on the play.
South Carolina added two unearned runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to pull ahead 8-4. The Tar Heels four errors on the night were the most since tallying four miscues at Duke on April 24.
Third baseman Bryan Triplett drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk in the eighth, and Daniel prevented any further damage with a diving catch in left off the bat of USC catcher Landon Powell to end the inning.
Sophomore Jonathan Hovis worked 3.2 solid innings out of the pen for the Tar Heels, allowing just two hits and one walk, while striking out four. Junior Bryan Phillips did not allow a hit and struck out four in the eight and ninth innings.
Junior Justin Webb entered at third base in the sixth for his first action since being hit on the arm by a pitch at Wake Forest on April 4.
The Tar Heels return to action Wednesday at home against Virginia Commonwealth at 6 p.m. Carolina then travels to No. 2 Miami this weekend for a three-game series.
