University of North Carolina Athletics
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Florida State
No. 3 Seminoles Surge Past No. 1 Tar Heels, 9-6
May 24, 2008 | Baseball
May 24, 2008
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - No. 3 Florida State scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to rally past No. 1 North Carolina, 9-6, Saturday in the final game for both teams at the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Tar Heels, who lost just their third game this season when leading after eight innings, dropped to 46-12, while the Seminoles improved to 48-10.
With Carolina holding a two-run lead, Florida State tied the score at five in the top of the ninth on a pinch-hit single by ACC Player of the Year Buster Posey. After retiring the first batter of the ninth, Rob Wooten (5-2) issued a one-out walk to Parker Brunelle and gave up a pinch-hit single to Stephen Cardullo before uncorking a wild pitch to move both runners into scoring position.
Posey, who snapped a streak of 184 starts Saturday, then singled through the left side to tie the game just before a weather delay commenced at 8:24 p.m. with runners on first and second and one out.
After the 64-minute delay, Jack Rye singled to right off Tim Federowicz to score pinch-runner Ruairi O'Connor with the go-ahead run. The Seminoles continued to pour it on from there, as RBI singles from Dennis Guinn and Tommy Oravetz and a sacrifice fly by Tony Delmonico boosted the lead to 9-5.
The Tar Heels loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a Chad Flack single in the bottom of the inning to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Mark Fleury, who brought UNC within three runs on a sacrifice fly to deep left field. Seth Williams nearly tied the game with a shot down the left field line that was just foul. He eventually walked to load the bases, but Jimmy Marshall (6-2) struck out pinch hitter Brett Thomas to close the game.
Wooten allowed three runs on two hits and two walks over two-third of an inning to take the loss, while Marshall earned the win with one run on a hit and three walks over 1 2/3 innings.
Stuart Tapley and Rye each had three hits for the Seminoles, while Dustin Ackley led Carolina with his third straight two-hit game and two RBI.
Tar Heel starter Adam Warren fanned a season-high five batters over 5 1/3 innings to become the third straight UNC pitcher to record a season-high strikeout effort in the ACC Tournament. He held FSU to just two runs on four hits and a walk but was forced to settle for a no-decision after the Tar Heels blew their second save opportunity of the week.
FSU righty Elih Villanueva went five innings and allowed three runs on six hits and two walks.
After Warren set FSU down in order in the first, the Tar Heels grabbed a 1-0 lead but squandered an early chance to break the game open. After back-to-back singles by Ackley and Kyle Shelton and a walk to Tim Fedroff loaded the bases, Flack lined out to left to score Ackley on the sacrifice fly. Kyle Seager then hit into a double play to leave two runners on base.
Ackley came through with a second straight single to give Carolina a two-run lead in the second. Villanueva hit Williams with a two-out pitch to start the rally. Garrett Gore singled up the middle to move Williams to scoring position, and Ackley then laced a single into right center to drive in the Tar Heels' second run.
Warren cruised through four innings but ran into trouble in the fifth when the Seminoles knotted the score on a two-run single by Brunelle. Delmonico singled with one out, and Warren issued a two-out walk to Ohmed Danesh to put two on for Brunelle, who singled to right center to clear the bases and tie the game at two.
The Tar Heels came right back in the bottom of the inning to grab the lead on a Fedroff single. Shelton was hit by a pitch, stole single and then scored on an RBI single up the middle by Fedroff to lift Carolina to a 3-2 lead.
UNC picked up some insurance in the sixth when Shelton coaxed a bases-loaded walk out of reliever Geoff Parker after Ackley was intentionally walked with first base open.
A two-out Seminole rally in the eighth trimmed Carolina's lead to a single run. Tapley started things with a two-out bunt single, and Rye followed with a double down the right field line. Wooten then hit the first batter he faced and followed with a walk to Delmonico to cut the lead to 4-3.
Ackley's second RBI of the night moved the lead back to two runs entering the ninth. Fleury drew a leadoff walk from John Gast in the bottom of the eighth, and singles by Williams and Ryan Graepel loaded the bases for Ackley, who plated the fifth run of the night on a 1-6-3 groundout. Shelton then flied out to right, and Williams was thrown out at the plate for an inning-ending double play to hold the lead at just two runs heading into the ninth.
The Tar Heels will now wait to learn their NCAA fate when the 16 host sites are unveiled Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The 64-team bracket will be announced Monday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.
