University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Georgia Tech
No. 15 Carolina Opens Series with 5-4 Win over No. 8 Jackets
May 19, 2005 | Baseball
May 20, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Sophomore righty Robert Woodard allowed just one run over 6.2 innings, and Chad Flack and Jay Cox both homered, as No. 15 North Carolina (39-14-1, 16-9-1 ACC) held on for a 5-4 win over No. 6 Georgia Tech (37-15, 21-7 ACC) Thursday at Boshamer Stadium. The win was the Tar Heels' school-record 31st at home this season.
Carolina carried a 5-1 lead into the eighth, but the Yellow Jackets scored three times over the final two innings to cut the final margin to just one run. Reliever Jonathan Hovis stranded the tying run at third base to claim his fifth save of the season.
Woodard (7-0) fanned five, walked one and scattered a career-high eight hits, just one of which came after the third inning. He held the ACC's top offense to just one run over 6.2 innings but did not reenter following a one-hour, 19-minute rain delay. Hovis allowed three runs on five hits and struck out three. The game totaled one hour and 44 minutes worth of weather delays.
Flack was 2-for-2 with a two-run home run - his team-high 14th of the season - and two runs scored. He also walked three times to reach base in all five trips to the plate. Cox added a solo homer in the seventh, which proved to be the winning run after the Jackets' late rally.
Second baseman Greg Mangum and designated hitter Matt Ellington each added two hits on the night. Ellington doubled twice and drove in his team-best 52nd run of the season, while Mangum singled two times and scored his 47th run. He also made several outstanding plays in the field, including an inning-ending stop in the third that left two Tech runners in scoring position.
Center fielder Danny Payne, third baseman Wes Hodges, shortstop Tyler Greene, right fielder Jeff Kindel and second baseman Mike Trapani all had two hits in the game for the Yellow Jackets, who outhit the Tar Heels, 13-9.
Georgia Tech starter Lee Hyde (7-3) went four innings and allowed three runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out two and was lifted in favor of Jordan Crews in the fifth.
After the Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI groundout by first baseman Whit Robbins, Ellington tied the score with an RBI double in the third. Mangum led off the rally with a single to left center, moved to second on a Justin Webb groundout and then scored on Ellington's double to right. Carolina went on to the load the bases in the inning but stranded all three runners.
Two innings later, Flack gave the Tar Heels their first lead with the two-run homer - a shot over the left field light tower off Hyde, who was lifted before he retired a batter in the inning. Ellington led off with his second double and came around to score Flack's fifth home run of the month. Carolina proceeded to load the bases on three walks but was unable push any more runs across.
Flack started another scoring rally in the sixth with a single up the middle off Crews. He stole second and then came home on a double to left center by shortstop Josh Horton for a 4-1 Tar Heel lead.
After Cox's solo home run in the Tar Heels' first at-bat following the longest weather delay, Tech got a run back in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Kindel. Greene led off the inning with a double down the right field line and then scored on Kindel's single through the left side.
In the ninth, the Jackets made things interesting as Trapani drove in two runs with a double to trim the lead to 5-4. He advanced to third on a groundout but was stranded there, as Hovis fanned left fielder Steven Blackwood to end the game.
Carolina's win Thursday eclipsed the previous mark of 30 home victories set in 1993 and 2000. The Tar Heels need just one more win to reach the 40-victory plateau for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
The game was delayed 18-minutes due to lightening in the bottom of the second and seven minutes in the top of the seventh before heavy rains began at 9:30 p.m. Following Friday's 7 p.m. start for game two of the series, game three is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPNU.
