University of North Carolina Athletics
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Virginia
No. 1 Tar Heels Edged In 11 In ACC Opener
May 22, 2008 | Baseball
May 22, 2008
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - No. 1 North Carolina answered go-ahead rallies by Virginia in the ninth and 10th innings but fell a run short in the 11th in an 8-7 loss Wednesday in game four of the ACC Championship at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Tar Heels dropped to 45-11 with the loss, while the Cavaliers improved to 37-19.
Chad Flack was 3-for-6 with a game-tying home run in the 10th inning but was robbed of a potential game-winning hit in the 11th by by UVa center fielder John Barr to end the game. Seth Williams added a solo homer, and Tim Federowicz was 2-for-5 with two RBI to pace the Tar Heels at the plate. Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff and Garrett Gore each added two of Carolina's 15 hits.
David Adams singled in what proved to be the game-winner in the top of the 11th and singled and scored in Virginia's 10th-inning rally. Barr matched Adams with two of the Cavaliers' seven hits on the night.
Virginia closer Michael Schwimmer (3-1) allowed three runs on five hits over three innings but earned the win. UNC right-hander Colin Bates (6-1) suffered his first loss after giving up two runs on one hit and two walks over 1 1/3 innings.
ACC Pitcher of the Year Alex White matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts and allowed just three hits over seven innings but had to settle for a no-decision in the three-hour, 40-minute contest. He gave up three runs over the first two innings, but settled down from there and held Virginia hitless over his final five frames. He issued a two-out walk in the fourth, but the Greenville, N.C., native retired the final 10 batters he faced.
White, who allowed just one earned run, walked four and recorded his fourth career double-digit strikeout game. He also notched 11 Ks against NC State in 2007 and 2008.
Behind White and Rob Wooten, Carolina had retired 13 straight batters heading into the ninth, but the Cavaliers scratched out two runs against Wooten to take a 5-4 lead. Barr tied the game with an RBI single up the middle and scored the go-ahead run on a Tyler Cannon groundout.
With the lead, Virginia went to Schwimmer, the ACC saves leader. He retired the first two batters before Gore started the first game-tying rally with a single through the right side. He took second on a wild pitch and scored on a triple into the right field corner by Ackley to send the game to extra innings.
The Wahoos grabbed a one-run lead in the 10th when Adams singled, stole second and scored on a Dan Grovatt single off UNC lefty Brian Moran, but Flack answered with a one-out solo shot to left on the first pitch he saw from Schwimmer to knot the score at six. Flack's game-tying homer was his sixth of the year and the first allowed by Schwimmer all season.
In the 11th, a pair of walks and a wild pitch by Bates led to the first run, and Adams followed with an RBI single to right to give the Cavaliers' a two-run lead they would not relinquish.
Carolina loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and crawled within one on an RBI single from Fedroff, but Barr's diving grab in shallow center on a blooper off the bat of Flack preserved the Cavalier's one-run win.
Back in the first, the Cavaliers took advantage of a fielding error by Kyle Seager to grab a 2-0 lead. After the fielding miscue and a pair of walks loaded the bases, Phil Gosselin came through with the only hit of the inning, a two-out double to left center to put the Cavaliers on the board.
After Virginia added a third run on a double steal in the second, the Tar Heels found the scoring column thanks to back-to-back doubles by Seager and Federowicz. Seager, who owns a UNC record 27 doubles, started the rally with a double down the right field line on a 3-2 pitch from UVa starter Andrew Carraway, and Federowicz laced the next pitch into left center for Carolina's first run of the night.
Federowicz then took third on a wild pitch and scored on a balk by Carraway to bring the Tar Heels within a run, and they tied it in the fifth on a solo shot by Williams. He sent a 2-2 offering from Carraway out to left center for his first home run since April 22 and his sixth of the season.
The Tar Heels grabbed their first lead of the night in the sixth on a Federowicz's second run-scoring hit. Flack jump-started the rally with a leadoff double to right, took third on a sacrifice bunt by Seager and scored the go-ahead run on single through the right side by Federowicz. The Tar Heels' one-run lead held until Virginia went in front with two in the ninth to start the late-inning drama.
After an off day Thursday, the Tar Heels return to action Friday at 8 p.m. against Wake Forest and close round-robin play Saturday against Florida State at 5 p.m.
