University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Jacksonville
Woodard Pitches Tar Heels Past Jacksonville, 6-0
June 1, 2007 | Baseball
June 1, 2007
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By JOEDY McCREARY
AP Sports Writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Robert Woodard doesn't lose at home. Once the NCAA tournament rolls around, neither does North Carolina.
Woodard threw eight shutout innings to remain perfect at his home ballpark over four seasons and North Carolina beat Jacksonville 6-0 on Friday night in the Chapel Hill Regional.
"Robert's just impressed me since he walked in here," coach Mike Fox said. "He just stays on edge. He's just a competitor. He kind of wills himself in there, and he has the ability that when he throws two balls or it's 3-1 and you really need to throw a strike ... he has the ability to do that, and he never really seems to get out of control."
Woodard scattered seven hits in his longest outing in two months, striking out five and leading top-seeded and No. 3 national seed North Carolina (49-12) to its fourth straight win and a successful first step toward a possible return to the College World Series.
Woodard "made some huge pitches at big times," Jacksonville coach Terry Alexander said. "As a coach, we're looking at our players and wishing they had done this or done that, but sometimes it's the guys on the other team that keep you from it. Woodard was on his game, as good as it could be, especially when we had runners in scoring position."
The Tar Heels - who finished last season in Omaha one victory shy of their first national title - looked right at home while playing host to a double-elimination regional for the second straight year, and advanced to face second-seeded East Carolina with a berth in Sunday's championship round on the line. The Tar Heels beat East Carolina twice this season by a combined score of 15-1.
"If teams aren't hungry now, they never will be," Fox said. "You're two wins away from the next weekend. What you've done before against who, after the first pitch, I'm not sure that plays a factor."
Tim Federowicz had three hits and drove in two insurance runs for North Carolina, which gave its ace more than enough offense with three consecutive run-scoring doubles in the second inning.
Thomas LePage had two hits and reached base four times for fourth-seeded Jacksonville (34-27), which stranded 11 runners, had its four-game winning streak snapped and now must face third-seeded Western Carolina in an elimination game Saturday.
The Tar Heels took command in the second with three straight RBI doubles off starter Matt Davis (4-2).
Josh Horton got things started when his double to the wall in right-center scored Federowicz from first. Horton then came around to score on Chad Flack's RBI double, and Kyle Seager's two-base hit to the gap in left-center brought home Flack to make it 3-0.
"It's a huge lift, no question," Woodard said.
North Carolina increased its lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Seth Williams scored after Garrett Gore's grounder skipped over second baseman Logan James' head. Federowicz added a two-run double in the eighth.
"That last at-bat, I was just trying to fight off anything I could," Federowicz said.
That was a surplus of support for Woodard (10-2), a senior who improved to 22-0 at cozy Boshamer Stadium in his longest outing since his complete-game victory over Duke on April 13.
Woodard led the Tar Heels to their fourth straight NCAA tournament victory at home and has held his opponent scoreless in two of his last three starts in the NCAAs. They were 3-0 in their regional here last year, the first time they were a host team in the NCAAs since 1983.
The closest Woodard came to finding trouble was in the fifth inning, when the Dolphins had runners on first and second with two outs and their top hitter, Atlantic Sun player of the year Pete Clifford, at bat. Clifford popped out meekly to left field, slamming his bat in frustration.
"They were able to get out of some jams, and that really made them comfortable and confident, and certainly that's not what we want them to be," Alexander said.
Davis allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings, and for the first time this season the Dolphins lost a game he started.
