University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
George Washington
Johnson's Walk-Off Homer Lifts No. 4 Carolina Past GW
February 25, 2006 | Baseball
Feb. 25, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Sophomore catcher Benji Johnson's walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 11th capped 3.2 innings of hitless relief by senior right-hander Jonathan Hovis, as fourth-ranked North Carolina (6-0) scored a 6-5 victory over George Washington (1-2) Saturday at Boshamer Stadium.
With the game tied at five, Johnson took a 2-2 pitch from GW reliever Tim Sexton and sent it over the left field fence to give the Tar Heels their sixth straight win. Carolina right fielder Matt Spencer set up Johnson's heroics with a diving catch to strand Colonial pinch runner Jeremy Hall at third with two out in the top half of the inning.
The Tar Heels were forced to go to extra innings for the first time this season after the bullpen faltered for the second day in a row, allowing George Washington to tie the game at five with four runs in the eighth inning. Hovis (1-0) then came on to settle things down, retiring 11 of the 12 batters he faced and striking out five en route to his first win of the season.
Junior righty Daniel Bard took a tough-luck no-decision after matching a career high with nine strikeouts over six strong innings. He allowed one run on just four hits and one walk and was perfect the first time through the order, retiring the first nine batters he faced with six coming via strikeout. He fanned five of the six GW batters in the second and third innings and struck out the final two batters in the sixth to equal his career best set against Princeton March 14, 2005.
Johnson and first baseman Tim Federowicz each had three hits and drove in a run to lead Carolina at the plate. Johnson's three hits - a home run and two doubles - were a career best and he also walked twice. Two other Tar Heels had multi-hit afternoons - left fielder Jay Cox, who has hit safely in all six games this season, and shortstop Josh Horton, who has a hit in all five games he has played.
The Tar Heels took advantage of three George Washington errors to take a 3-0 lead in third. Johnson doubled and scored on a throwing error by Colonial catcher Andrew Abokhair for the first UNC run. Second baseman Kyle Shelton followed Johnson with a single up the middle and later scored on a Reid Fronk sacrifice fly, and Horton singled and scored two errors later on a Cox RBI single for the third run of the frame.
After GW scored a run when third baseman Tom Shanley grounded into a double play in the fourth, Carolina came back with two more in the fifth to push its lead to 5-1. Federowicz drove in the first run with a bases-loaded RBI single to center and then allowed the second to score when he was picked off first but stayed alive along enough to give Cox a chance to score from third.
The Tar Heels' four-run cushion held up until the eighth, when George Washington scored four times off Carolina relievers Adam Warren and Matt Danford to tie the game. Abokhair, center fielder Matt Owens and right fielder Gavin Swanson had successive RBI base hits, before designated hitter Jay Quinn tied the game with a run-scoring groundout.
Owens, Swanson and second baseman Mickey Shurpin each had two hits for the Colonials. Sexton was solid in relief of GW starter Brian Frazier, allowing just three hits, including Johnson's homer, in 5.1 innings.
Carolina will go for the series sweep at 1:30 p.m. Sunday with junior left-hander Andrew Miller (1-0) on the mound.
