University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
Complete Effort Leads No. 1 Tar Heels Past Maryland, 14-3
April 25, 2009 | Baseball
April 25, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Levi Michael recorded his second career four-hit game, Mark Fleury drove in four runs and right-hander Adam Warren tied a career high with nine strikeouts in a 14-3 win for No. 1 North Carolina over Maryland Saturday in front of a Boshamer Stadium record crowd of 4,231.
Fleury, who had three RBI in Friday's series opener, opened the scoring for the Tar Heels (34-11, 15-7 ACC) with a two-run double in the first and added a two-RBI triple in the fifth for the big blow in a six-run inning for Carolina, which pounded out 16 hits by 10 players.
Michael, who also matched a career best with three runs scored, was 4-for-5 with a triple, a double and an RBI sacrifice fly. Dustin Ackley, who was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, connected on his team-high 13th home run, and Seth Baldwin added a pinch-hit three-run shot to close the scoring in the eighth.
Kyle Seager went 2-for-5 to match his season-best hitting streak at 16 games.
Warren (5-2) held the opposition to just four hits for third time in his last four starts, as he limited Maryland (20-23, 6-17 ACC) to two runs on four hits and four walks. His nine strikeouts equaled a career-best total posted against Davidson in 2007. The victory was the 27th of Warren's career, matching Andrew Miller for fourth in Carolina history.
Logan Munson pitched a career-high three innings in relief and struck out four to earn his second save.
Maryland lefty Matt Fullerton (5-4) was charged with three runs on six hits and a walk over four innings. Will Greenberg had three of the Terps' six hits on the night.
Carolina grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first for the second straight night when Fleury delivered a two-out, two-run double down the right field line. Ben Bunting was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the inning, and Michael put two on for Fleury with a bunt single towards first base.
The Tar Heels tacked on a run in the fourth when Mike Cavasinni started a two-out rally with a double down the right field line, and Ryan Norton followed with an RBI double down the left field line for his first extra-base hit as a Tar Heel and a 3-0 advantage.
After Maryland got on the board with a Tyler Bennett RBI single in the top of the fifth, Carolina broke things open with six in the home half of the inning. Michael tripled to left center and scored on a single to left by Ackley for the first run in the frame. Seager singled through the right side to put runners on the corners for Fleury, who tripled down the right field line for his second two-run hit of the night.
Ryan Graepel then lofted a fly ball to right to plate Fleury with what appeared to be a sacrifice fly, but Maryland right fielder A.J. Casario dropped the ball, putting Graepel on second with still no outs. Two walks loaded the bases, and Bunting sent Graepel to the plate with an infield single off Blair Delean, the second pitcher of the inning. In his second at-bat of the frame, Michael hit a sac fly to center to drive in Norton to close the scoring. Carolina went for six runs on five hits and sent 11 men the plate to grab a 9-1 lead.
Maryland got one back in the sixth on Casario's sacrifice fly, but Warren buckled down to strike out two of the final three batters he faced to strand the bases loaded and preserve a seven-run lead.
The Tar Heels hung a five spot in the eighth and batted around for the second time on the night to put the game away. Michael led off the frame with a double, and Ackley connected on a two-run homer to center off Delean. Mike McKee legged out an infield single, Graepel walked and Baldwin sent his third home run of the season out to right to close the Tar Heels' biggest offensive outburst in conference play this season.
The series wraps up Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest that will air on the Tar Heel Sports Network and on ACC Select.
