University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
South Carolina (NCAA Regional)
South Carolina Tops Tar Heels, 5-2
June 5, 2004 | Baseball
June 5, 2004
COLUMBIA, S.C. - No. 2 seed North Carolina allowed just three hits and one run after the first inning, but South Carolina first baseman Steve Pearce homered twice and starter Matt Campbell struck out 11 over 7.2 innings to lead the top-seeded Gamecocks (47-15) to a 5-2 win over the Tar Heels (42-20) Saturday in NCAA Columbia Regional action at Sarge Frye Field. Carolina will now play The Citadel at 7 p.m. Saturday for the right face the Gamecocks at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the title game.
Campbell (9-4) gave up two runs on six hits and equaled a season-best with 11 strikeouts. Closer Chad Blackwell came on with two out in the eighth got out of the inning and struck out three en route to his 16th save of the year.
Tar Heel starter Daniel Bard (8-4) worked 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out four and settled down after Pearce's first inning homer, retiring the next eight batters he faced before walking Pearce in the fourth. After allowing four hits in the first, Bard did not give up another base hit until shortstop Steven Tolleson, who was 2-for-4, singled up the middle in the fifth. Pearce was 2-for-2 with two walks and four runs batted in.
Freshman second baseman Bryan Steed went 2-for-4 to lead the Tar Heels at the plate.
Junior right fielder Marshall Hubbard gave the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead in the first on his team-best 17th home run of the season. Catcher Chris Iannetta started the two-out rally with a single to left, and Hubbard then took Campbell over the wall in left center for the first runs of the day. The two-run shot gives Hubbard 82 RBI on the year, a new single-season school record, eclipsing Scott Johnson's 81 in 1985. Iannetta's single pushed his current hitting streak to eight games.
The lead was short-lived for the Tar Heels, as South Carolina put up four runs in its half of the first. Following back-to-back singles by Tolleson and third baseman Bryan Tripplett, second baseman Kevin Melillo singled to shortstop to drive in Tolleson and cut the lead to 2-1. Pearce followed with a two-out three-run homer to left to give the Gamecocks a 4-2 advantage.
After walking two batters in the sixth, Bard was lifted in favor of Jonathan Hovis with two out. Hovis struck out USC center fielder Michael Campbell to get out of the jam.
The Gamecocks also put two on in the seventh, but Hovis worked out the second jam in as many innings to keep the score at 4-2. But Pearce struck again in the top of the eighth with a solo shot to left, his second of the day and 19th of the year to push the USC lead to 5-2. Bard and Hovis, who allowed two hits over 2.1 innings, had combined to give up just two hits after the first inning before Pearce's second round-tripper of the afternoon.
The Tar Heels are now 1-5 against South Carolina in NCAA Tournament play over the last three seasons.
