University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Duke
Johnson, No. 1 Tar Heels Down Duke, 8-4
April 28, 2006 | Baseball
April 28, 2006
DURHAM, N.C. - Catcher Benji Johnson hit a pair of mammoth home runs, and junior left-hander Andrew Miller moved into the Tar Heels' top five in career victories and strikeouts, as No. 1 North Carolina posted an 8-4 win over Duke Friday in the opening game of an Atlantic Coast Conference series at Jack Coombs Field. The Tar Heels (37-8, 16-6 ACC) have won eight straight ACC games and 14 of 16 overall.
With Friday's victory on the diamond, Carolina is just one win shy of securing the Carlyle Cup, the all-sports competition between the rival Tar Heels and Blue Devils. UNC currently holds a 13-12 lead.
Despite allowing four runs on a career high-tying 12 hits and one walk, Miller struck out six en route to a 10-0 record on the year and a 24-7 career mark. He went six innings and all 12 hits allowed were singles. Relievers Jonathan Hovis and Andrew Carignan worked the final three innings and combined to retire all nine batters faced.
The solid bullpen work secured Miller's 10th win of the season, which is good for a share of the national lead. He is the Tar Heels' first 10-game winner since Ryan Snare in 2000 and is now tied with All-America Scott Bankhead and former pitching coach Roger Williams for fourth on Carolina's all-time list.
With six strikeouts Friday, Miller has 79 on the year and 271 over his three-year career to move past Snare and into fifth on the Tar Heels' career strikeout list. He needs just 19 strikeouts for the UNC career record.
Johnson, who now has three home runs over the last two games, hit a two-run homer in the sixth and followed with a solo shot to lead off the eighth to drive in three of Carolina's eight runs. Second baseman Bryan Steed also went deep in fifth to give the Tar Heels back-to-back three-homer games. UNC leads the ACC with 53 home runs on the season, and Johnson now shares the team lead with nine.
Johnson and Steed were two of the five Tar Heels to record multi-hit games Friday. First baseman Chad Flack went 2-for-5 with two RBI to match his career-best hitting streak at 12 games. Shortstop Josh Horton had a pair of hits to run his hit streak to seven games, and designated hitter Tim Federowicz also came through with two singles.
Four Blue Devils also notched multi-hit games as Carolina and Duke (14-31, 6-16 ACC) each pounded out 12 hits on the night. Duke starter Jim Perry (0-4) allowed five runs on six hits and two walks over six innings.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third on Flack's first single of the night. He delivered a two-out single up the middle to drive right fielder Matt Spencer and center fielder Mike Cavasinni from second and third.
Duke cut the lead in half in the fourth on an RBI single by catcher Matt Williams, but Carolina scored in each of its next five trips to the plate to hold off any thoughts of a Duke rally.
Steed's fifth-inning homer, just the third of his career, gave the Tar Heels a 3-1 lead, and Johnson followed in the sixth with the first of his two home runs to give Miller a four-run cushion. Left fielder Jay Cox drew a leadoff walk before Johnson nailed the 0-1 pitch from Perry deep into the trees over the left field fence.
The Blue Devils strung together four singles off Miller in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-4 after six. Left fielder Daniel Palmer plated the first two runs with a single up the middle. and an RBI groundout by shortstop Brett Bartles brought Duke within one.
Carolina came right back to take a 6-4 lead on an RBI single by Federowicz in the seventh. Johnson hammered the first pitch he saw in the eighth over the left field fence for a three-run lead, and Cox tacked on an RBI single in the ninth for the 8-4 final score.
The series continues at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Junior right-handers Robert Woodard and Daniel Bard will start the remaining two games for the Tar Heels.
