University of North Carolina Athletics
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Virginia
Wooten, No. 2 Tar Heels Shut Down No. 24 Virginia, 5-2
May 10, 2008 | Baseball
May 10, 2008
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Right-hander Rob Wooten struck out a career-high seven batters and allowed just one hit over a career-long 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in a 5-2 win by No. 2 North Carolina over No. 24 Virginia Saturday at Davenport Field. The Tar Heels (42-8, 20-5 ACC) held the Cavaliers (33-17, 13-13 ACC) to just five hits and struck out 13 UVa batters on the night.
After Carolina got a solid start from right-hander Adam Warren, Wooten (4-1) came on with runners on second and third with just one out in the fifth inning and fanned Jeremy Farrell and Phil Gosselin on seven pitches to end the threat and preserve the three-run advantage. The Fremont, N.C., product cruised from there, allowing only two base runners and holding Virginia hitless until the ninth.
Warren struck out six over 4 1/3 and allowed just one earned run on four hits and four walks.
Left fielder Kyle Shelton homered and tripled, and second baseman Kyle Seager added a double, a triple and scored two runs to pace the UNC offense. Catcher Tim Federowicz added a game-high two RBI.
With his team-best 24th double of the season in the fourth inning, Seager moved into a tie for second on the UNC single-season list. Both Seager and Shelton tripled for the fifth time to reach a tie for seventh place on the single-season chart.
Virginia lefty Pat McAnaney, who entered the game as the Atlantic Coast Conference's leader in earned run average, lasted just 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out five but dropped to 4-3 with the loss. Right-hander Matt Packer came on in relief in the fifth and allowed just three hits over four shutout innings.
The Wahoos struck first when Farrell tripled to right center to leadoff the second and scored on an RBI single to right by Gosselin, who then stole second with no one out. Warren buckled down from there to strikeout the next three batters he faced to keep the UVa lead at just one run.
Shelton quickly erased that deficit with a solo shot to left - his third home run of the season and the fourth of his career - with two out in the top of the third to tie the game at one.
The Tar Heels went in front for the first time with two in the fourth on back-to-back sacrifice flies from Federowicz and Garrett Gore. Chad Flack was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Seager followed with a double to right to put both runners in scoring position. Federowicz delivered the go-ahead run with a sac fly to right, and Gore followed suit with a sac fly that was caught in foul territory by Virginia right fielder David Coleman to give Carolina a 3-1 lead.
After Virginia crawled back within a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI groundout by Jarrett Parker, the Tar Heels quickly answered on a run-scoring triple into the right field corner by Seager in the fifth. Flack reached on a fielder's choice and scored all the way from first for Carolina's fourth run of the night.
Packer then came on for Thompson and was greeted by an RBI single up the middle by Federowicz to give the Tar Heels a 5-2 lead they would not relinquish.
With the victory, Carolina has matched its 1983 team for the best 50-game record in school history at 42-8. The Tar Heels, who improved to 15-2 on the road this season, have won 17 of their last 18 games and reached the 20-win mark in ACC play for the third straight season. UNC also won its fourth straight game against Virginia and secured its first series victory over the Wahoos since 2005.
The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday with freshman right-hander Matt Harvey on the mound for Carolina. The game will be carried by the Tar Heel Sports Network, and a webcast will be available live and on-demand via ACC Select.
