University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Clemson
Moran Caps Off Sweep With Game-Winning Single
April 3, 2011 | Baseball
April 3, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Colin Moran and Levi Michael combined for five hits as No. 6 North Carolina walked off with a 5-4 series sweep of No. 16 Clemson (14-12, 4-8 ACC) Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. Moran drove in Michael for the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Tar Heels equaled the best 30-game start in school history and now own a 26-4 record on the year.
Carolina captured its third consecutive ACC series with a sweep marking just the third time since the ACC expanded to three game series in 1990 that the Tar Heels accomplished the feat. Carolina swept Clemson at home for the first time since 1990 this weekend and now joins the 2005 and 2006 teams as the only teams to sweep three straight conference series.
The Tar Heels moved their record to 26-4 overall and 10-2 in conference play which ties the 2007 team with the best 30 game start in school history in the last 20 years. The 1990 and 1983 teams also opened the year with 26-4 marks.
Clemson struck in the very first inning for the third consecutive game when starter Chris Munnelly allowed a one out single and then three straight two-out base knocks which put the Tigers in the driver's seat with a 2-0 advantage.
Carolina would respond with back-to-back singles from Ben Bunting and Levi Michael to open the bottom of the first before Tommy Coyle drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Jacob Stallings hit a high chopper to third which drove in Bunting before Colin Moran drew his 25th walk of the year to re-load the bases.
Chaz Frank hit a ground ball to the right side that second baseman John Hinson was able to field but his throw to first got by the first baseman allowing Michael and Coyle to score and put Carolina in front 3-2.
As tends to be the case for the Tar Heels, after a shaky opening frame Munnelly settled down and retired six straight batters over the second and third innings to keep Carolina in front.
Munnelly's counterpart, Scott Firth, did the same exact thing for the Tigers allowing base runners in the second and fourth but both were via two-out walks that did not cause any damage.
Levi Michael started things off in the bottom of the fifth with an infield single down the third base line before stealing his second base of the game to put himself in scoring position. Jacob Stallings drew a one-out walk before Colin Moran delivered another RBI hit, this time a single to right field that Michael scored on by avoiding the Chris Epps throw from right. The run stretched Carolina's lead to 4-2 heading to the sixth.
Senior Greg Holt came on for the sixth and found himself in some early trouble as Richie Shaffer drove a ball into the left field corner for a lead off double. Following a ground out to third, Brad Miller drove a pitch over Seth Baldwin's head in right for another double making the score 4-3. Holt settled down and forced a ground out to third on a nice grab by Colin Moran and picked up a big strikeout to end the Clemson threat.
The Tigers tallied a lead off single in the top of the seventh off of Holt before left-hander Tate Parrish came on. Parrish fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt cleanly for out number one and coerced a ground out to second before exiting for right-hander Andrew Smith.
With the tying run just 90 feet away, Smith threw just three pitches en route to an inning-ending strike out. Smith came back out for the eighth and allowed a single and a walk as the Tigers put their first two batters on base for the first time all series.
rad Miller laced the first pitch he saw down the first base line but directly at Tom Zengel at first who snatched the liner and stepped on first for the double play.
Spencer Kieboom followed with a RBI single up the middle that plated the game-tying run before R.C. Orlan came on to get the final out of the eighth.
Carolina drew a two-out walk in its half of the eighth but that was all, while Clemson did the same thing against Orlan and Cody Penny in the ninth.
Ben Bunting led off the ninth by nearly beating out a chopper to second base for out number one. Levi Michael tallied the first hit since Moran's RBI single in the fifth when he took a pitch to right field for a single, his third hit of the afternoon.
Tommy Coyle's 18-game hit streak came to an end in the ninth when he drew his second walk of the day. Jacob Stallings moved Michael to third with a deep fly out to center before Moran came through with Carolina's second walk off win of the year on a RBI single past a diving second baseman to provide the 5-4 final.
The three-hit performance by Michael was his 30th career multi-hit game, while Moran drove in two runs for the sixth time this season.
Cody Penny earned the win by picking up the final out of the ninth and is now 1-0 on the season.
The Tar Heels will host Winthrop in a midweek tilt on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before heading to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on No. 9 Florida State in a weekend series.
