University of North Carolina Athletics
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Duke
No. 2 Carolina Blanks Duke To Take Series
March 9, 2008 | Baseball
March 9, 2008
DURHAM, N.C. - Designated hitter Mark Fleury went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI and four pitchers combined on a shutout to lift No. 2 North Carolina to a 9-0 series-clinching win over Duke Sunday at Jack Coombs Field. The Tar Heels (10-2, 2-1 ACC) outscored the Blue Devils (12-2, 1-2 ACC) by an 18-3 margin over the final two games of the series after dropping the opener.
The series win was the seventh straight for Carolina against Duke and gave the Tar Heels one more point in the race for the Carlyle Cup, the all-sports competition between the two rivals. UNC holds a 14-3 lead in the 2007-08 edition of the event.
Fleury, who had seven hits on the weekend, logged his first career three-hit day, scored two runs and belted his first career homer in the seventh. Right fielder Tim Fedroff capped an 11-hit week with three more hits Sunday and added his team-high fourth home run of the season in the eighth. Second baseman Kyle Seager, who has hit safely in eight straight, and center fielder Seth Williams added two hits apiece for the Tar Heels.
UNC reliever Colin Bates (3-0) picked up the win with three hitless innings, which included three strikeouts and one walk. Freshmen Nate Striz and Ryan Leach also kept the Blue Devils off the board in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
Carolina starter Rob Catapano pitched well over four-plus innings but did not figure into the decision. The Knoxville, Tenn., product scattered seven hits, did not walk a batter and struck out six. He was lifted in favor of Bates with runners on the corners and no one out in the fifth.
Duke starter Grant Monroe (2-1) was charged with four runs on six hits and a walk over four innings. Catcher Matt Williams had three hits to pace the Blue Devils at the plate.
Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the third when shortstop Garrett Gore singled, stole second and eventually scored on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of first baseman Dustin Ackley, who pushed his current hitting streak to 16 games with a fifth-inning double.
After Seager singled and Williams was hit by a pitch, Fleury doubled to left center to plate the first of three runs in the fourth. Left fielder Ben Bunting followed with an RBI single through the right side to drive in the second, and Fleury later scored when Gore grounded into a double play to push the Tar Heels' lead to 4-0.
Duke strung together three straight singles in the fourth to load the bases against Catapano, but the lefty worked out of the jam and kept the Blue Devils off the scoreboard through four. Carolina immediately responded in the fifth when Ackley doubled to left center to start the inning, and catcher Tim Federowicz followed with a single to left center to drive in the fifth run of the day for UNC.
Catapano ran into trouble again in the fifth when back-to-back singles put runners on the corners with no one out, but Bates came on and needed just three pitches to induce a lineout to first and a double play ball to short to end the Duke threat.
The Tar Heels broke the game open in the seventh with a trio of two-out runs. Ackley reached on an error, stole second and scored from third on a double just inside the third base bag by Williams, and Fleury connected on the very next pitch from Duke reliever Michael Seander for a two-run home run to right and an 8-0 UNC lead. Fedroff's solo shot in the eighth was the ninth and final run of the day.
The Tar Heels host a pair of midweek games this week at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex. Carolina welcomes Coastal Carolina Tuesday and VCU Wednesday for 3 p.m. starts. A webcast of both games will be available on ACC Select.
