University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Clemson
No. 6 Tar Heels Take Series With 9-5 Win
April 2, 2011 | Baseball
April 2, 2011
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 6 North Carolina used a four-run eighth inning en route to a 9-5 series-clinching win over No. 16 Clemson (14-11, 4-7 ACC) Saturday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. The ACC leader in RBI added to his total as Colin Moran drove in three more runs in the win, including a pair in the four-run eighth to help Carolina to a 15th consecutive home win. The Tar Heels will look for a third straight ACC sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Clemson struck first for the second straight day in the top of the first taking advantage of a Tar Heel error to put the lead off man on base. Following a ground out to second, Phil Pohl was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second.
The Tigers attempted a double steal but backstop Jacob Stallings was able to cut down Pohl attempting to steal second for the second out of the inning. Clemson picked up a RBI single to right to take the lead before Kent Emanuel forced a fly out to end the inning.
The Tar Heels pulled one back in the bottom of the second when Jacob Stallings led off with a bouncing ball over the third baseman's head for a single before Jesse Wierzbicki laced a double to right field to scoreStallings from first.
A one out double off the wall in left would end up being trouble for Emanuel and the Tar Heels in the third as Richie Shaffer singled home Phil Pohl to make the score 3-1. The Tigers would threaten later in the frame but Emanuel was able to force a fly out to left and a pop up to second base to end the inning.
Carolina answered once again in the bottom of the third as Ben Bunting and Levi Michael drew back-to-back one out walks. A passed ball would move the pair into scoring position for Tommy Coyle who would go on to hit a slow roller to first scoring Bunting and knotting the game up at 2-2.
Another Ben Bunting walk opened the fifth inning as the senior outfielder quickly swiped his ninth base of the year to get himself in scoring position with nobody out. Levi Michael followed with a slow roller to the right side that he was able to beat out for an infield single to put runners on the corners. A ground out by Coyle moved Michael to second before Jacob Stallings hit a chopper to the left side that John Hinson was able to get to but his throw short-hopped Richie Shaffer at first to put Carolina in front.
Colin Moran made the score 4-2 with a a hard hit ball through the right side to score Michael before Tom Zengel extended the lead to three (5-2) with a sacrifice fly to right scoring Stallings.
Kent Emanuel carried the three-run advantage into the seventh inning as the young left-hander settled down after giving a pair of runs in the first three innings. The Tigers struck for a single leading off the seventh but Emanuel was able to get Will Lamb swinging with his 98th pitch of the afternoon.
The punch out would be the end of the day for Emanuel as Greg Holt came on in relief, but Jacob Stallings quickly closed the book on Emanuel's day with his third caught stealing of the day for the second out of the inning.
The seventh would not end so quickly for the Tar Heels as a single by Phil Pohl and a walk to Richie Shaffer put runners on first and second before Tate Parrish came on in relief. Parrish got a pitch in on Jeff Schaus' hands but the ball was able to clear the Tar Heel infield and drop in front of Bunting in center to score a run.
Cody Penny came on but was struggling to find the zone and walked both batters he faced, including the second with the bases loaded making the score 5-4. Michael Morin was the fifth pitcher of the inning for Carolina and issued a free pass to Jason Stolz forcing in the game-tying run. A strike out looking would end the disastrous inning.
Carolina was unable to get anything going in the bottom half of the seventh but Morin was able to work an efficient 1-2-3 inning in the eighth putting the Tar Heels in position to take the lead.
Jeff Bouton started things off with one out in the eighth when he lifted a single into left field. Ben Bunting was squaring around to move Bouton to second with a sacrifice bunt but Joseph Moorefield's pitch caught Bunting putting him on thanks to a hit by pitch.
Levi Michael strolled to the plate and delivered the hit Carolina had been searching for with a double to dead center over the head of Will Lamb allowing Bouton to score and put Bunting at third.
Tommy Coyle was issued an intentional walk to load the bases for Stallings who calmly lifted a ball into deep right field to score Bunting with a sacrifice fly and extend the lead to 7-5.
Colin Moran blew the game open with a perfectly placed single into left center that scored Michael and Coyle, who swiped second during Moran's at bat, to provide the final margin of 9-5.
Clemson would finally solve Morin in the top of the ninth as the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs but Moran fielded a grounder off the bat of Jon McGibbon and flipped the ball over to first to cap off Carolina's third straight series win.
The Tar Heels have now opened the ACC season with a 3-1 series record after posting a 1-3 series mark after four conference series in 2010.
Moran finished with a game-high three RBI, while Stallings chipped in two runs and two RBI. Ben Bunting crossed home plate three times in the contest and Michael added two runs to his total.
Tommy Coyle extended his hit streak to 18 on Saturday when he hit a shot to second in the sixth inning, he added a pair of steals and now leads the Tar Heels with 13 on the year.
The Tar Heels will send Chris Munnelly to the mound on Sunday as they search for their third consecutive conference sweep at 1 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.
