University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Miami
No. 10 Miami Rallies To Top No. 18 UNC, 4-3
March 28, 2015 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL --- No. 10 Miami scored three times in the ninth to grab a 4-3 win over No. 18 North Carolina Friday night at Boshamer Stadium. UM's Willie Abreu tied it with a two-run single ahead of Johnny Ruiz's game-winning RBI off Trent Thornton. Korey Dunbar gave Carolina a 3-1 lead in the seventh with his third home run of the year in support of Zac Gallen, who allowed just one run in seven innings for the Tar Heels. Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 3 p.m.
Gallen and Miami starter Thomas Woodrey were outstanding on a cool evening in Chapel Hill, with only Ricky Eusebio's homer in the first denting the scoreboard through six. Woodrey was especially efficient, needing just 65 pitches to get through six innings, but Carolina broke through in the seventh.
Zack Gahagan's leadoff walk was Carolina's third baserunner of the night, and he moved to second on Skye Bolt's sacrifice. Bolt was ruled safe at first and Logan Warmoth bunted both men into scoring position. After a Tyler Ramirez RBI groundout tied it, Dunbar launched his third home run in his last five games out to right center to give UNC a 3-1 lead.
Trevor Kelley pitched a 1-2-3 eighth before Thornton (1-2) ran into trouble in the ninth. Zack Collins led off the inning with a bloop single, and Thornton got the first out of the frame by striking out Miami star slugger David Thompson. Singles from Garrett Kennedy and Abreu matched with a wild pitch when it appeared Thornton and Dunbar got crossed up tied the game at 3 before Ruiz plated the winning run with a sharp single to center.Carolina (15-10, 5-5 ACC) got the tying runner into scoring position in the ninth when Ramirez singled and stole second, but Alex Raburn's fly to left off Miami closer Bryan Garcia ended it.
Cooper Hammond (3-1) retired all four batters he faced to get the win for the Hurricanes, who improved to 19-8 and 7-3 in the ACC.
Gallen was denied a win in a strong outing for the second straight Friday. The sophomore righty, who retired 16 straight at one point against Miami, allowed two runs in seven innings last week in a no-decision against Georgia Tech.
Game two of the series is set for 3 p.m. Saturday with Carolina sending J.B. Bukauskas to the mound opposite UM junior Andy Suarez. Sunday's series finale starts at noon, one hour earlier than previously announced due to the ACC's travel curfew.
