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No. 18 UNC Edges No. 22 UNCW In Extras, 6-5
April 23, 2015 | Baseball
WILMINGTON, N.C. --- Tyler Ramirez singled and scored on a balk in the top of the 12th to give No. 18 North Carolina a 6-5 win over No. 22 UNCW Wednesday night at Brooks Field. Trent Thornton struck out Joe Bertone with the tying run on third to end it after almost five hours, giving UNC a third consecutive win before a weekend series with Boston College starting Friday in Chapel Hill. Brian Miller had three hits and scored two runs as the Tar Heels improved to 26-15 and snapped the Seahawks' 10-game winning streak.
Carolina jumped on UNCW starter Evan Phillips for four runs in the first two innings. Korey Dunbar's two-run single got the scoring started in the top of the first, and the Tar Heels added two more in the second on RBIs from Skye Bolt and Landon Lassiter.
Elijah Sutherland's RBI double made it 5-1 in the third, but the Seahawks rallied against Hunter Williams. Corey Dick's two-run single chased Williams after just 2.2 innings, but Trevor Kelley got the last out of the third to keep UNC ahead for the time being.
Gavin Stupienski singled home Zach Canada to tie it in the fourth, and that would be all the scoring until the 12th.
In addition to Thornton, who improved to 3-4 with 2.2 scoreless innings of work, the Tar Heels got sharp relief performances from both Hansen Butler and Zach Rice. All told, Carolina pitchers struck out 17 Seahawk batters on the night, led by Butler's five and Rice's four.
Steven Linkous, Casey Golden, Gavin Stupienski and Zach Shields each had two hits for UNCW, which fell to 28-9.
Carolina will return to Chapel Hill to host Boston College in a three-game ACC series beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.
