University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Miami
Eight-Run 10th Pushes No. 20 Miami Past No. 10 UNC, 13-6, in Game One
April 23, 2011 | Baseball
April 23, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After No. 10 North Carolina battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, No. 20 Miami exploded for an eight-run tenth to take game one of the doubleheader by a 13-6 score. With the defeat, North Carolina falls to 31-9 on the season and 12-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Meanwhile, Miami improves to 26-12 and 14-4 in the ACC.
Daniel Miranda earned the win for the Hurricanes to improve to 3-1, pitching two innings of relief and allowing one run. Chris Munnelly suffered the loss for UNC after allowing two runs in three innings of relief, falling to 3-3 on the season. Starter Patrick Johnson was solid for the Tar Heels, allowing three runs in 5.1 innings while striking out seven.
Jesse Wierzbicki, Chaz Frank and Greg Holt led the offense for the Tar Heels, collecting three hits apiece. Holt's performance marked the first three-hit game of the senior's career in his second start in right field. For the Hurricanes, Nathan Melendres had a huge day to spark Miami, going 5-for-6 and knocking in four runs while scoring three.
Both starting pitchers were sharp early as the game remained scoreless through three and a half frames. Johnson faced the minimum 12 batters while striking out six in his first four innings of work, as he erased the only baserunner with a pickoff.
The Tar Heels scratched out a run in the fourth to take a lead. Following a Colin Moran leadoff walk, Wierzbicki doubled down the left-field line to place two runners in scoring position. After Tommy Coyle drew a walk to load the bases, Jacob Stallings grounded into a double play to plate Moran with the game's first run.
After Johnson worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth with a 5-4-3 double play, Carolina tacked on another run in the fifth to go up 2-0. Holt doubled to lead off the inning and eventually scored when Moran laced a two-out single into right for his 53rd RBI of the season.
Miami answered with three runs on four hits, all to right field, in the sixth to take the lead. Consecutive one-out singles put two runners on for Nathan Melendres, who lofted a double down the right-field line to get the Hurricanes on the board. A walk loaded the bases for cleanup man Harold Martinez, who dropped a two-run single into right-center to give Miami the lead. Michael Morin then replaced Johnson and escaped the sixth without further damage.
Carolina jumped back on top in the sixth, scoring two runs with two outs. Wierzbicki led off with a single through the right side and raced home with the tying run on Chaz Frank's single to left. Matt Roberts put Carolina back in the lead and captured his second RBI of the season when he singled to left to score Frank.
The lead was short-lived as Miami responded with two runs in the seventh. An RBI double by Zeke DeVoss tied the game, and he scored the go-ahead run on Melendres' single up the middle. Munnelly then replaced Morin and escaped further damage, but the Hurricanes' two-run inning gave them a 5-4 lead.
The score remained 5-4 going into the bottom of the ninth as Munnelly kept Miami off the board in the eighth and the ninth. The Hurricanes summoned closer Daniel Miranda, who entered the game with 11 saves. Holt earned his third hit of the day to lead off the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Jeff Bouton, who advanced to second on sacrifice bunt by Ben Bunting. Levi Michael then ripped a double into left field to chase Bouton home with the tying run. Miranda was able to strand Michael at third to extend the game into extra innings.
After escaping the ninth, Miami took advantage with an eight-run tenth. Brad Feiger recorded a RBI single to score Melendres with the go-ahead run before Dale Carey walked with the bases loaded to make it 7-5. Stephen Perez then broke the game open with a bases-loaded triple that plated three before Melendres capped off the inning with a two-run home run. For the inning, Miami sent 12 men to the plate and scored their eight runs on only four hits. Carolina got one run back in the bottom of the tenth with a sacrifice fly by Brian Holberton to make the final 13-6.
