University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Florida Atlantic
No. 2 North Carolina Outlasts Florida Atlantic, 14-13
February 23, 2008 | Baseball
Feb. 23, 2008
BOCA RATON, Fla. - Sophomore second baseman Kyle Seager had a career-high four hits, including two solo home runs, and the heart of the order for No. 2 North Carolina combined for 13 RBI in a 14-13 come-from-behind win over Florida Atlantic Saturday at FAU Stadium. The Tar Heels (2-0) belted four home runs for the second straight day and rallied from a 10-6 deficit to secure the 400th win at Carolina for head coach Mike Fox.
In a game that featured eight home runs among its 32 hits, Seager went 4-for-4 and also equaled career bests with three RBI and four runs scored. Seniors Chad Flack and Seth Williams each hit three-run homers and drove in four runs apiece, and left fielder Dustin Ackley was 3-for-5 with two RBI.
After falling behind by four runs in the fourth, the Tar Heels went in front for good on an RBI single in the sixth by Flack and added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on two-out base hits by Williams and designated hitter Mark Fleury. Fleury's RBI double proved to be the game winner after FAU hit a pair of solo homers in the ninth to cut the lead to just one run.
Redshirt freshman right-hander Colin Bates (1-0) came on in the second and went 3 2/3 innings of relief in his collegiate debut to earn the victory. He allowed three runs on four hits and struck out four. Senior Rob Wooten worked out of a jam in the sixth and earned his first career save after going the distance. He allowed two runs on four hits and struck out five in four innings.
Reliever Alex Pepe (0-1) took the loss for the Owls (0-2) after allowing three unearned runs over two-thirds on an inning in the sixth. FAU starter Brandon Kloess allowed nine runs on eight hits over five innings. The Owls were led offensively by Mike McKenna and Travis Ozga with three hits each. Ozga had three RBI, and Tom Hatcher drove in four.
After hitting four home runs Friday, Carolina picked up where it left off in the first when Flack and Seager hit back-to-back blasts to cap a run of five straight hits to open the game. After successive singles by Fedroff, Garrett Gore and Ackley gave UNC a 1-0 lead, Flack belted a three-run home run out to left on a 2-0 pitch from Kloess.
Seager followed with a solo shot to left on a 1-2 offering for a 5-0 lead and Carolina's first back-to-back homers since a game against Georgia Tech last May 13.
The lead was short lived for the Tar Heels, as FAU scored eight times over the next two innings to chase starter Adam Warren, who allowed a career-high eight runs on seven hits, through just 1 1/3 innings. After stringing together two walks and four singles in the first, the Owls went ahead in the second on a three-run home run from Ozga.
After Seager's first solo home run, Kloess set down eight straight before Seager, who had just two homers all of last season, struck again with a solo shot to left center to trim the FAU lead to 8-6. The shot marked Seager's first career multi-homer game.
FAU got that run back in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer by Daniel Cook, the fifth ball of the day to leave the yard, and tacked on a 10th run in the fourth when McKenna singled and scored on a fielder's choice from Hatcher.
In the top of the fifth, Williams sent his third home run of the weekend down the left field line on a 2-1 offering from Kloess. His second three-run shot in as many games brought the Tar Heels within a run at 10-9.
Carolina regained the lead in the sixth on an RBI single through the right side by Flack. An error and two walks loaded the bases for Ackley, who knotted the score at 10 with a sacrifice fly to left before Flack drove in his fourth run of the day for the Tar Heels' first lead since the first. Seager followed with a single up the middle for a two-run UNC cushion.
Thanks to the RBI by Williams and Fleury in the eighth, Tar Heels carried the three-run lead into the ninth. FAU made things interesting with the solo home runs by Hatcher and Nick Criaris, but Wooten fanned two of the final three batters he faced to secure the win.
With the victory, Fox joins Mike Roberts and Walter Rabb as the only UNC coaches to win 400 games in Chapel Hill. Fox is now 400-176-1 at Carolina and 940-317-5 in his career.
Flack's four RBI moved him past Chris Iannetta into seventh on the Tar Heels' career list and his two base hits sent him past Adam Greenberg into a tie for seventh on the career hit list
The series concludes at noon Sunday with sophomore left-hander Rob Catapano scheduled to make his first career start for the Tar Heels.
