University of North Carolina Athletics
Blue Steel Forces Game Five With 6-5 Win
October 15, 2006 | Baseball
Oct. 15, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Freshman designated hitter Dustin Ackley went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Tyler Trice and Robert Woodard combined for eight strong innings on the mound to lead Blue Steel to a series-tying 6-5 win over Gatzkrieg Sunday in game four of North Carolina's Fall World Series at Boshamer Stadium. The teams will play a decisive game five at 3 p.m. Monday.
Gatzkrieg trailed 6-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth but rallied for four runs and had the game-tying run thrown out at the plate by Blue Steel left fielder Nate Lape to end the game.
Ackley doubled and scored in the first and picked up RBI in the sixth and eighth on a single and sacrifice fly, respectively. Second baseman Garrett Gore also had two hits on the day for the Blue Steel, which has won two straight after losing games one and two.
Trice (1-0) allowed just one run on three hits and three walks over four innings. Woodard came on in the fifth and struck out three over four shutout innings.
Reid Fronk led Gatzkrieg with a game-high three hits, and Benji Joihnson added two. Starter Bryant Gaines (0-1) allowed three runs on five hits over three innings, and lefty Brian Moran was sharp in relief, allowing just one run on three hits over 3 2/3 innings.
With Blue Steel holding a five-run lead, Gatzkrieg started its ninth inning rally with a single from Drew Poulk and a walk to Jared Bard. Johnson drove in the first run of the inning with a single, and Joe Pietropaoli cut the lead to three with a single of his own. A double down the left field by Kyle Seager and a balk by Blue Steel lefty Brian Farrell cut the led to just one. Fronk then singled to left, but Lape fired a strike to Tim Federowicz behind the plate to cut down Seager and end the game.
Ackley led off the afternoon with a double to left center and came around to score on an RBI groundout from Chad Flack. Seth Williams was then hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a single to center by Federowicz to give Blue Steel a two-run lead in the first.
Gatzkrieg cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second when designated hitter Johnson doubled and scored on an RBI single from Mike Cavasinni.
Blue Steel got that run back in the fourth when right fielder Matt Spencer drew a walk and scored on a double play grounder off the bat of Mark Fleury. Two innings later, Blue Steel scratched for two more runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Ackley and Gore. A double from Spencer and walks to Fleury and shortstop Ryan Graepel started the scoring rally.
Blue Steel closed out its scoring in the eighth as Alex White doubled to left to lead off the inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right from Ackley.
