University of North Carolina Athletics
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NC State
No. 1 Carolina Falls In NC State Finale
May 10, 2009 | Baseball
May 10, 2009
RALEIGH, N.C. - Kyle Wilson homered twice and drove in three runs to lift NC State to a 9-4 series-clinching win over No. 1 North Carolina Sunday at Doak Field. All-America Dustin Ackley hit his 16th home run and drove in three for the Tar Heels (38-13, 17-9 ACC), who dropped their first series to the Wolfpack (24-28, 10-17 ACC) since 2005.
Kyle Wilson hit solo shots in the first and third innings and added an RBI single to drive in three of State's first four runs. Drew Poulk also hit a solo home run in the fifth and added a single in the third.
Lefty Alex Sogard (4-2) earned the win for State after allowing one run on just two hits over three innings out of the bullpen. Joey Cutler set down all five batters he faced to post his third save. Starter Jake Buchanan gave up nine hits and three runs over 4 1/3 innings.
Ackley was 2-for-4 with a solo homer in the first and a two-run double in the third, and fellow All-America Kyle Seager went 3-for-3 with his 22nd double in the first and a solo home run in the seventh. Ben Bunting added his second two-hit game in the series.
Ackley's 16 home runs are the most by a Tar Heel since Marshall Hubbard belted 17 in 2004.
Carolina starter Matt Harvey (5-2) matched a career high with seven runs allowed (five earned) over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked only two but gave up three home runs among seven hits and left with two on in the fifth. Colin Bates pitched three solid innings in relief, allowing one earned run on two hits.
Ackley, who sent a 2-2 offering from Buchanan off the scoreboard, gave the Tar Heels a brief lead with the two-out solo shot in the first. Kyle Wilson quickly tied things with his first homer to right center to lead off the home half of the inning. Devon Cartwright was then hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a throwing error by Carolina shortstop Ryan Graepel for a 2-1 Wolfpack lead after one.
Ackley struck again in the third when his two-run double gave the Tar Heels their second lead of the afternoon. Bunting and Garrett Gore jump-started things with one-out singles, and Ackley sent his 12th double into the right field corner to score both runners and give Carolina a 3-2 advantage.
Kyle Wilson tied the score with a solo home run to right off Harvey to open the third and then gave State its first lead since the first with an RBI single in the fourth. Wade Moore was hit by a pitch, took third on a Dallas Poulk single and scored when Kyle Wilson singled through the right side for his third hit of the day.
After Seager was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a wild pickoff attempt to stop a Tar Heel threat in the fifth, the Pack went for three in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 7-3. Drew Poulk started the scoring with the third leadoff homer allowed by Harvey.
Andrew Ciencin singled, and Russell Wilson walked to end the day for Harvey. Moore singled through the left side off Brian Moran to drive in Ciencin, and Wilson scored from third when Moore swiped second and no one covered the base, allowing Mark Fleury's throw to sail into center field for a four-run deficit.
Seager chipped away at the lead for the Tar Heels with a solo homer to left center - his fourth - on a 2-1 pitch from Sogard in the seventh, but State answered with two in the eighth on an error and a wild pitch for the 9-4 final margin.
The Tar Heels play their final non-league game Tuesday at Charlotte before closing the regular season at Boston College with a three-game set beginning Thursday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
