University of North Carolina Athletics
Munnelly, Bunting Help To Even Fall World Series
October 15, 2009 | Baseball
Oct. 15, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Freshman right-hander Chris Munnelly struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth inning after junior center fielder Ben Bunting scored the go-ahead run in the top of the frame to lift the White team to a 5-4 win in North Carolina's annual baseball Fall World Series Thursday at Boshamer Stadium. White's win evens first of two best-of-three series at a game apiece.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect in extra innings, Bunting was placed on second to open the eighth. After a walk and an error loaded the bases, Chaz Frank lofted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Bunting with the go-ahead run.
With pinch-runner Patrick Johnson placed on second, Seth Baldwin reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the inning and put runners on the corners. Munnelly buckled down to fan three straight batters to strand both runners and close out the win. The Winston-Salem rookie finished with five strikeouts and allowed just two hits over 2 2/3 shutout innings.
Bunting, who also drove in the game-tying run in the seventh, went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI to spark the White team's offense, while Mike Cavasinni and Jesse Wierzbicki added two hits apiece. Brian Goodwin went 2-for-4 with a double, and Greg Holt drove in a game-high two runs to pace the Blue squad.
The Blue starter, sophomore right-hander Jimmy Messer, went five innings, and kept the White squad scoreless after a three-run first inning. He scattered six hits, struck out five and walked two before giving way to sophomore righty Ryan Leach, who tossed 1 1/3 scoreless in relief. Cody Penny took the loss for Blue after allowing two unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Junior right-hander Colin Bates was sharp over four innings for the White team, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts. The Naperville, Ill., product did not issue a walk.
The White team went for three in the first against Messer with Holt striking the big blow - a two-run single through the left side. Cavasinni singled to lead off the game, Bunting drew a walk and Wierzbicki singled through the left side to plate the first run. After a Tarron Robinson walk drew the bases Holt scored Bunting and Wierzbicki for a 3-0 lead.
The Blue squad came right back with a run in the bottom of the inning on a Ryan Graepel sacrifice fly. Freshmen Tommy Coyle and Goodwin led off the bottom of the inning with back-to-back doubles, and Graepel followed two batters later with a sac fly to deep right to trim the lead 3-1.
Blue got another run back in the fourth when Graepel doubled off the wall in left field, missing a home run by inches, and Baldwin followed with an RBI single to left center. The base hit was just out of the reach of a leaping Levi Michael at shortstop to cut White's lead to a single run at 3-2.
With Holt on the mound in the sixth, a pair of errors and a walk loaded the bases for the Blue squad. After R.C. Orlan came on to fan Baldwin, Jeff May singled through the left side off Munnelly to tie the score at three. Brett Knief followed with an RBI fielder's choice to short to drive in the go-ahead run.
The Blue lead was short-lived, however, as Bunting legged out a two-out infield single to knot the score at four. Josh Leemhuis drew a one-out walk, stole second and took third on a wild throw before Bunting beat Graepel's throw to first to plate the game-tying run and send it to extra innings.
The series continues at 3 p.m. Friday. Admission to all games is free of charge. Any schedule changes will be posted when available at TarHeelBlue.com.
