University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
George Mason
No. 3 UNC Tops George Mason, 9-5
March 14, 2006 | Baseball
March 14, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Second baseman Kyle Shelton, left fielder Jay Cox and first baseman Chad Flack combined for eight hits, six runs scored and five runs batted in from the top three spots in the order and five pitchers teamed to strikeout 12 batters as No. 3 North Carolina notched a 9-5 win over George Mason Tuesday in game one of a two-game midweek series at Boshamer Stadium.
Flack, Cox and Tim Federowicz each homered as the Tar Heels (14-2) rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to improve to 12-1 at home this season. Flack was 3-for-4 with a solo homer and two RBI, while Shelton matched a career-high with three hits, two runs scored and one driven in. Cox had his third straight multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 effort, including a two-run home run. Right fielder Matt Spencer also chipped in with two hits and a pair of stolen bases.
Junior reliever Matt Danford (1-1) earned the win after allowing just two hits and striking out four over 3.2 scoreless innings. Freshman Adam Warren also worked two shutout frames, and sophomore Tyler Trice closed out the win with a scoreless ninth. Starter Rob Wooten allowed three runs in 1.1 innings.
Starter Jared Petrovich (0-1) took the loss for George Mason after allowing four runs on six hits over four innings. Shortstop Brent Weiss had three hits to lead the Patriots (7-11) at the plate.
After falling behind in the second on a three-run home run by George Mason left fielder Ryan Upchurch, the Tar Heels hit three homers and scored seven unanswered runs to take a 7-3 lead through five. Spencer singled and stole second and third before scoring on an RBI single to right by Shelton, which cut the Patriot lead to 3-1 in the third.
Flack led off the fourth with a double off the wall and scored on a single through the left side by shortstop Josh Horton two batters later. Federowicz followed with his third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left that gave the Tar Heels a 4-3 lead.
In the fifth, Cox and Flack belted back-to-back home runs off George Mason reliever Dan Jaycox to push the lead to 7-3. Cox followed a leadoff single by Shelton with his team-high fifth homer of the year, and Flack sent the next pitch over the left field fence for his first of the season. The last time the Tar Heels had back-to-back homers was April 19, 2005 at East Carolina.
The Patriots picked up two more runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Weiss and center fielder Spencer Wiggins, but Carolina came back with a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. Shelton singled for the third time and scored on a squeeze bunt single by Flack. Cox followed Shelton's single with his second hit of the day and scored on a double steal with Flack to give the Tar Heels a four-run cushion for the second time in the game.
The Tar Heels and Patriots conclude their two-game series at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Redshirt freshman right-hander Luke Putkonen is scheduled to start for Carolina.
