University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
VMI
Warren, No. 1 Carolina Shut Down Keydets
February 21, 2009 | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2009
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Senior right-hander Adam Warren and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout Saturday in No. 1 North Carolina's 6-0 win over VMI at Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels (2-0) scored four runs over their final two trips to the plate pull away from the Keydets (0-2) late.
Warren (1-0) limited VMI to just two hits and two walks over five scoreless innings. He struck out six and ran his career mark to 23-2 with the victory, which moved him into a tie for ninth on the Tar Heels' all-time list.
Patrick Johnson struck out four in two innings of relief, and Brian Moran and Colin Bates closed the game with scoreless frames. The Tar Heels struck out 12 VMI batters and now have 29 strikeouts in 18 innings on the season.
Before UNC broke things open with three in the eighth inning, All-America Dustin Ackley and freshmen Levi Michael and Tarron Robinson, who also tripled in his first career start, staked UNC to a 3-0 lead with an RBI apiece. All-America Kyle Seager and Ryan Graepel led Carolina with two hits on the afternoon, and Brett Thomas drove in two runs with a pinch-hit double in the eighth.
Ackley's first-inning single extended his hitting streak to 15 games dating to last year.
VMI right-hander Chris Henderson (0-1) pitched well in defeat, holding the Tar Heels to three runs (two earned) on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Carolina got on the board in the second when Ben Bunting singled to left and raced around to third when VMI left fielder Brian Sandridge misplayed the base hit. Robinson followed with a grounder to first base to plate Bunting with the game's first run.
Graepel singled and scored to double Carolina's lead in the fifth. After the Greenville shortstop led off with a base hit to left, a sacrifice bunt from Mike Cavasinni and a single through the right side by Michael put runners on the corners for Ackley, who grounded to second to score Graepel.
VMI threatened in the seventh when Jacob Morley singled to right but Garrett Gore came up firing to cut down Alex Haitsuka at the plate to keep the Keydets off the board.
Robinson led off the bottom of the inning with a triple of the left center field wall, and pinch runner Ryan Norton later scored on Michael's sacrifice fly to center to push the Carolina lead to 3-0.
Powered by the pinch-hit, two-run double from Thomas, the Tar Heels pulled away in the eighth with three runs to double their lead. Mark Fleury ignited the two-out rally with his third double of the young season. Following a walk to Cavasinni, Thomas dropped a bloop double in between three Keydets in center field to score two. Graepel then doubled down the left field line to score Thomas with Carolina's sixth and final run.
The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday with preseason All-America Matt Harvey on the mound for the Tar Heels opposite VMI's John Phelps.
