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No. 1 Carolina Holds Off No. 7 NC State In Series Opener
April 21, 2006 | Baseball
April 21, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina junior left-hander Andrew Miller held hot-hitting NC State to five hits over 8.1 innings and first baseman Chad Flack drove in four runs on a pair of two-run doubles to lead the No. 1 Tar Heels to a 7-3 win over the No. 7 Wolfpack in front of an over-capacity crowd of 3,656 Friday at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina closer Andrew Carignan came on to thwart a late NC State rally in the ninth to pick up his 10th save of the season.
The Tar Heels improve to 32-8 on the season and 13-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference to maintain a one-game lead in the Coastal Division. The Wolfpack fall to 31-11 and 13-6 in the league with the loss.
Miller allowed three runs on five singles and two walks while striking out seven to improve to 9-0 on the season. State managed just two hits over the first seven innings and Miller set down 13 straight batters before a leadoff bunt single in the eighth. State entered Friday's game with the nation's second-best team batting average and 59 hits over its last four outings.
The Wolfpack loaded the bases with just one out in the eighth before Miller worked of the jam and did the same in the ninth before Carignan entered. The Norwich, Conn., product recorded the final two outs to preserve the win and pick up his 10th save to move to a tie for fourth on the Tar Heels' all-time list.
Miller's win is also significant as it marks a career high and the most by a Carolina hurler since Ryan Snare won 10 games in 2000. The Gainesville, Fla., native is now 23-7 in his career.
Flack was 2-for-5 with four RBI on the night for his sixth straight multi-hit game and a seven-game hitting streak. He capped the Tar Heels' four-run fourth inning with a two-run double and followed with some key insurance RBI on a second two-run double in the eighth. Flack now has 33 RBI on the season, giving Carolina five players with at least 30 RBI on the year.
Shortstop Josh Horton went 3-for-4 to improve to 11-for-18 in his career against the Wolfpack and second baseman Bryan was 2-for-3 with two runs scored as the Tar Heels outhit State, 11-5. Designated hitter Tim Federowicz's RBI single in the fourth extended his current hitting streak to seven games.
State starter Andrew Brackman (1-3) pitched well with the exception of the Tar Heels' four-run fourth. He went seven innings and allowed five runs on nine hits and three walks. Brackman struck out seven on a career-high 121 pitches. Designated hitter Jon Still and catcher Caleb Mangum combined for four of State's five hits on the night.
After Miller set down the first six State batters, Mangum led off the third with a single to right and scored on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Matt Camp to give the Wolfpack a brief 1-0 lead. Miller hit two batters in the inning but got first baseman Aaron Bates to groundout to short to strand two runners on base.
Steed led off the bottom of the inning with a double down the left field line on the first pitch he saw from Brackman and came around to score on Horton's second hit of the night, a two-out single to right to tie the game at one.
The Tar Heels batted around in their four-run fourth, which was closed out by the key two-out double from Flack. Left fielder Jay Cox singled and moved to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch before Federowicz's single to left gave UNC its first lead of the night. Steed reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners before third baseman Reid Fronk singled up the middle to drive in Federowicz. Flack followed with a double to the gap in right center to plate Steed and Fronk and give the Tar Heels the 5-1 lead.
After retiring 13 straight NC State batters, Miller got into trouble in the eighth but buckled down to leave the bases loaded. Mangum led off with a bunt single - the Pack's first hit since the fourth - and a walk and an error loaded the bases with one out, but Miller fanned second baseman Ramon Corona and got Bates to ground out to first to end the threat.
Flack gave the Tar Heels what proved to be much-needed insurance runs in the eighth with a two-out double just inside third base to push the lead to 7-1. Pinch hitter Kyle Shelton singled and center fielder Seth Williams walked to lead off the inning and Flack's base hit followed a sacrifice bunt by Steed to put both runners in scoring position.
Miller gave up back-to-back singles to open the ninth and followed with a walk and his third hit batter of the night to trim the lead to 7-2. Carignan came on to strikeout pinch hitter Jeremy Synan and got Corona to ground out to end the game after Camp drew a bases loaded walk for the 7-3 final margin.
A limited number of tickets for the next two games of the series will be for sale at the Boshamer Stadium ticket booth. Tickets for Saturday's 1 p.m. start will go on sale at 11:30 a.m., and the ticket booth will open at noon Sunday for the 1:30 p.m. first pitch. Carolina students and faculty with a UNC One Card are encouraged to arrive early to assure admission.
