University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NC State
Tar Heels Fall To NC State In ACC Tourney Opener
May 24, 2006 | Baseball
May 24, 2006
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Chad Flack gave No. 2 seed North Carolina a first-inning lead on a three-run homer, but No. 7 seed NC State came back with nine unanswered runs to score a 9-3 win Wednesday in game two of the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Tar Heels (45-12) will face Florida State in an elimination game at 10 a.m. Thursday, while the Wolfpack (36-19) move on to play Virginia at 4 p.m.
Carolina outhit State, 10-9, but stranded seven runners in scoring position, including three at third to drop its fourth straight ACC tourney contest. UNC has also not won its opening game of tourney since 2003.
Gib Hobson (9-1) turned in his second consecutive strong outing against the Tar Heels to earn the win. After working seven scoreless innings of relief in the regular season, Hobson scattered 10 hits over nine innings for State's first complete game of the season. He allowed three runs, struck out two and walked just one.
ACC Pitcher of the Year Andrew Miller (11-2) went six innings and allowed season-highs of seven runs and five walks to go along with six hits. He struck out four to surpass the 100-strikeout mark for the second straight season and now has 102 on the year. Matt Dnaford gave up two runs on three hits in three innings of relief.
Flack, who was 2-for-4, moved past the 100-RBI mark for his career and now has driven in 102 over the past two seasons. His first-inning homer was his 10th of the season and the 25th of his career. Mike Cavasinni matched his career-high with three hits, while Josh Horton added two hits and is now 16-for-31 in his career against NC State.
The Wolfpack scored seven runs in the third and fifth innings and tacked on two in the ninth for the 9-3 final margin. Drew Martin had three hits for State in his first career start at third base, while Ramon Corona and Caleb Mangum each added two hits.
Back-to-back singles by Cavasinni and Reid Fronk put runners on the corners for Flack, who lofted an 0-1 pitch from Hobson to right for the 3-0 UNC lead in the first. Horton followed with a single up the middle for the fourth straight hit for the Tar Heels, but Hobson induced a double-play ball and got out of the inning without any further damage.
After going in order against Miller in the first and second, State loaded the bases with no outs and scratched out four runs to take its first lead of the afternoon. Matt Camp was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the first run, and RBI groundouts by Corona and Aaron Bates tied the score at three. Jon Still followed with a single to center to drive in the go-ahead run.
The Pack loaded the bases with no outs for a second time in the fifth and scored three times to push its lead to 7-3. Ryan Pond reached on a fielder's choice to drive in the first run, and after Bates scored on a double-play grounder, Mangum singled up the middle to plate the final run of the frame. Two of the runs were unearned after Horton prolonged the inning with his 21st error of the season.
Brian Aragon closed the scoring with a two-run double in the top of the ninth for NC State's first extra-base hit of the afternoon.
