University of North Carolina Athletics
Shane Taylor was brilliant in the 2012 Duke game
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: May 13
May 13, 2020 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina will begin to look at "On This Day in Tar Heel History", as Tom Jensen will share his memories as an avid Tar Heel fan and regular at Boshamer Stadium.
May 13
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2007 and 2012 for a dramatic comeback in the final ACC game at the old Bosh that gave the Heels the Coastal Division lead for good, and for the best outing on the mound of Dr. Shane Taylor's Tar Heel career.
May 13, 2007 against Georgia Tech was Senior Day at the Bosh and we honored a group that was vital to pushing the program into the national elite- Robert Woodard, Matt Danford, Bryan Steed, and Joe Pietropaoli.
The game was also crucial when it came to the Coastal Division standings. The Heels came into it trailing Virginia by half a game for the lead.
Things did not get off to a good start. The Yellow Jackets put up 7 runs in the 2nd inning to take a 7-0 lead. But the Heels fought right back in the bottom of the inning. Josh Horton hit a leadoff triple and a Chad Flack sac fly brought him home. 7-1. Seth Williams reached on an error and Tim Fedroff singled to put runners on the corners.
That brought up Benji Johnson and he went deep to right center. 7-4. Reid Fronk was up next and he knocked one out too. 7-5. The Heels made up almost the entire deficit before the 2nd inning was through.
Matt Danford threw a scoreless 3rd and in the bottom half the Heels continued the comeback. Seth Williams drew a walk, Tim Fedroff singled, and on the very next pitch Benji Johnson singled too to load the bases with 1 out.
Reid Fronk singled, scoring Seth. 7-6. And Garrett Gore singled, scoring Tim. And just like that after falling behind 7-0 in the 2nd, the Heels tied the game by the bottom of the 3rd.
Matt Danford got the first couple outs of the 4th. Tim Federowicz came in to pitch with runners on 1st and 2nd and extinguished the threat with a fly out, then threw a scoreless 5th.
Tim Fedroff walked to lead off the bottom of the 5th and Benji Johnson doubled to put a couple runners in scoring position with nobody out. Tim came in to score on a balk to give the Heels an 8-7 lead.
Reid Fronk got hit by a pitch and Garrett Gore worked a walk to load the bases. After throwing a scoreless top half of the inning on the mound Tim Federowicz came up and hit a sac fly to score Benji and give himself some insurance. 9-7 Heels.
The Yellow Jackets scored a couple runs in the 6th to tie it right back up. But the Heels didn't let it stay that way for long. Seth Williams came up with 1 out in the 6th and hit the first pitch he saw out of the park to left to take the lead right back at 10-9. Tim Fedroff and Benji Johnson both walked and then Reid Fronk hit a ball that the Jackets tried to turn into a 3-6-3 double play, but instead threw the ball away. That allowed Tim to come home and make it 11-9.
Tim Federowicz threw a 1-2-3 7th and in the bottom the Heels came back for more. Josh Horton hit a leadoff single, Chad Flack bunted him over to 2nd, and he moved to 3rd on a wild pitch. Seth Williams drew a walk and then Tim Fedroff hit a deep flyball to bring Josh home. 12-9.
On the next pitch after the sac fly Benji Johnson singled. And on the next pitch after that, Reid Fronk singled. That rapid fire sequence of events brought Seth around to score. 13-9.
Andrew Carignan came on and threw a scoreless 8th. In the bottom half Bryan Steed came in to pinch hit on his Senior Day and delivered a single. Mike Cavasinni pinch ran and a Josh Horton single moved him to 3rd. Chad Flack followed with a single of his own to score Cavi and make it 14-9.
The Jackets got a couple runs in the 9th and had runners on the corners with 2 down, bringing the tying run to the plate. But Andrew Carignan struck the guy out swinging to finish the 14-11 comeback victory and clinch the series.
That wasn't the only good news of the day. Virginia lost 8-6 to N.C. State over in Raleigh so the half game lead in the Coastal Division that they started out the day with was now a half game lead for the Tar Heels.
Tim Federowicz got the win for the Heels for going 3.1 innings while allowing only 3 hits, striking out 3 as well. On a day where the Heels gave up 16 hits...but the Jackets gave up 19...that qualified as an all star performance.
Benji Johnson led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a home run and a double, driving in 3 and scoring twice. A trio of Heels had 3 hits each- Reid Fronk (including a home run and 3 RBI), Josh Horton (including a triple and a couple of runs), and Garrett Gore (including a double and an RBI.)
Tim Fedroff had a pair of hits to go with his pair of walks and scored 4 times. Seth Williams also had a pair of walks alongside his home run and came around to score 4 times. Chad Flack singled and drove in a couple runs and Dustin Ackley had a double. Tim Federowicz was the only Heels starter without a hit but given that he was the winning pitcher and did hit a sac fly, he can be forgiven for that.
This was the final ACC home game at the old Bosh, and it was quite a send off.
On May 13, 2012 the Heels already had the series win over Duke in Durham in hand and they were going for the sweep.
Hobbs Johnson was supposed to start on the mound but he was sick. So at the last second the Heels sent Shane Taylor to the mound. Or more accurately now, Dr. Shane Taylor. Shane was one of the best students we've ever had in our program and just graduated from Tufts Medical School.
Shane was someone who really put the student part of student athlete first. But he was a pretty darn good athlete too. He made 64 appearances in his career, throwing 89.1 innings, and had a 9-4 record with a 3.23 ERA while doing it.
This day in Durham was the best of his career. He threw a scoreless 1st with a pair of strikeouts. In the 2nd all three Duke hitters worked full counts. And Shane struck them all out.
In the 3rd the Devils drew a 1 out walk and hit a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd. That constituted their offense for the day. Shane stranded them with another strikeout.
Shane threw a 1-2-3 4th, closing the inning with a K. He got 2 outs on 2 pitches on his way to a 1-2-3 5th. He threw a 1-2-3 6th. In the 7th he again got 2 outs on 2 pitches on his way to a 1-2-3 inning. He was completely dominant.
What he was not was ahead in the game. The Heels were getting more opportunities to make something happen but the game headed to the 8th scoreless.
With 2 outs in the 8th Colin Moran fell behind 1-2 but then singled to keep the inning alive. Jacob Stallings followed with his own single to put runners on the corners.
With 2 down and runners on 1st and 2nd Mike 'Zoom' Zolk came up as a pinch hitter.
I love this game because I think of it as the one my Philly dudes won. Shane Taylor is from the part of New Jersey right outside Philly and Mike Zolk...well...he and his family are as from Philly as any family can possibly be. Shane's family and Zoom's family are about as different temperamentally as a couple of families can be but they've both proven to be life long friends and sometimes I go up to Philly and get to see them both on the same day.
Philly really has contributed a lot to our program. The highlight of this year's shortened season was probably Joey Lancellotti's walkoff home run to beat Middle Tennessee State the first weekend of the season. It was one of those totally unexpected moments since Joey had just been a shutdown relief pitcher his first couple years and hadn't hit.
Joey went back to Philly last summer and really worked on his hitting and guess who worked with him on it the most- Zoom Zolk. When Joey hit that home run everyone working out at the Zoom Baseball Academy more than 400 miles away from Chapel Hill went absolutely insane about the University of North Carolina winning a game in February. It's a great Tar Heel family story.
Anyway back to 2012. Shane is having the day of his life. But he's not getting any support. Zoom comes up and takes a pitch. The next one he smacks to left off the Blue Monster for a double. Colin comes around to score and give the Heels a 1-0 lead. Brian Holberton comes up next and singles to bring in both Jacob and Zoom and give the Heels a 3-0 advantage.
Shane comes back out for the 8th and does the same thing he did the previous 4 innings- retire the side in order. He finished his day with 8 scoreless innings where he allowed only 1 hit and 1 walk, struck out 8, and retired the last 17 batters he faced. And remember again that he wasn't even supposed to start- it was a last second change and he really rose to the occasion.
Michael Morin came on for the 9th to close it out and I remember doing my best to get Shane a standing ovation...even though he wasn't actually on the field, in the middle of the 9th inning to honor one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen.
Michael retired the side in order, including a couple of strikeouts, for his 16th save of the season. Shane's great start and Zoom's big hit gave the Heels the sweep in Durham and also made it the second year in a row with a sweep of the Blue Devils, a streak that would grow to three.
Chaz Frank was the only Heel with multiple hits. They only got 4 hits outside of the 8th inning but those 4 were more than enough with the pitching as it was.
And quick hits from 2006, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018:
-In 2006 the Heels won 5-0 at Virginia to even up the series. Robert Woodard threw a masterpiece- a complete game shutout where he allowed only 6 hits and didn't walk anyone.
Benji Johnson led the way for the Heels with 3 hits, including a double, and drove in a run. Reid Fronk (including a double, driving in 2 runs and scoring a run) and Josh Horton (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits. Mike Cavasinni (including an RBI and a run), Kyle Shelton (including a run), Matt Spencer (including a run), and Chad Flack had the other hits for the Heels. The win pushed the season record to 41-10.
-In 2011 the Heels won the series opener at Georgia Tech 3-2. Patrick Johnson threw 6.2 innings and only allowed a pair of runs, getting the win to go to 9-1 on the season.
RC Orlan came on with the tying run on 2nd in the 7th and got a strikeout to end the threat. Michael Morin came in with runners on the corners and 1 out in the 8th in a 1 run game and got a double play to escape the threat.
Michael threw a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game in the 9th and earn his 6th save of the season, punctuated by an impressive Chaz Frank catch to get the final out while crashing into the outfield wall. The win got the Heels their 40th win of the season, at 40-10.
Colin Moran (including a home run and 2 RBI), Jacob Stallings (including a double and a run), Chaz Frank (including an RBI), and Tommy Coyle (including a run) all had multiple hits for the Heels. Ben Bunting had their other hit.
-In 2014 the Heels played an unusual game in Shelby, NC and beat Gardner-Webb 7-2. It was the second most notable outing of Taylore Cherry's career. He threw 6 shutout innings and earned the 3rd and final win of his Tar Heel career. Diehard fans will always remember Taylore for the first win he got, starting in the ACC Championship game the year before. Trevor Kelley threw the last 3 innings and got the save.
Skye Bolt led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a home run, both driving in and scoring 2 runs. Tyler Ramirez had 3 hits, including a double, and drove in a pair of runs. Landon Lassiter (scoring twice and driving in one) and Wood Myers (with an RBI) each had a pair of hits. Michael Russell doubled and scored a couple runs, Parks Jordan doubled and drove in and scored one, and Korey Dunbar, Alex Raburn, and Colby Barnette also had hits for the Heels.
-In 2016 Zac Gallen made his last start at the Bosh for the Heels against Notre Dame and it was quite a sendoff. He threw 8 scoreless innings, struck out 8, and allowed only 2 hits and a walk.
Zac is going to be a great big league pitcher. One thing revisiting his seasons in Chapel Hill has done is give me a new appreciation for how many nights he was close to unhittable as a Tar Heel. I think it just gets lost in the shuffle because the teams he was on didn't go deep into June but he had as many lights out Friday night starts at the Bosh as just about anyone.
Hansen Butler threw a 1-2-3 9th and struck out the last couple guys he faced to earn the save.
Logan Warmoth was the star on offense for the Heels with a pair of hits, including a home run, and 2 RBI. Cody Roberts (with a run) and Adam Pate had the other 2 hits for the Heels. Tyler Ramirez had an RBI and Brian Miller scored a run.
-In 2017 the Heels went up to Blacksburg and won the first game of the series 9-4. Virginia was simultaneously losing the opener of their series to Miami, giving the Heels a 6 game lead in the Coastal Division game with only 5 games to go. That's the earliest any Tar Heel team has clinched the championship since the ACC started division play.
Brandon Riley led the way with 3 hits, including a home run and a triple, driving in 3 runs. Logan Warmoth had a pair of hits, including a double, and drove in and scored a run. Tyler Lynn went deep and drove in a couple runs, Brian Miller hit a solo shot, Kyle Datres had a hit and scored a couple of runs, and Ashton McGee singled and drove in a run.
Rodney Hutchison got the win for 4.2 scoreless innings of relief where he allowed only 1 hit, didn't walk anyone, and struck out 4. His outing was especially impressive because Virginia Tech is a tough place for pitchers. Josh Hiatt threw a 1-2-3 9th and finished the game with a strikeout. The win pushed the Heels to 40-9 on the season.
-And in 2018 the Heels took on Duke at the DBAP needing a win to hold onto the lead in the Coastal Division. UNC came into the weekend leading the Devils by 2.5 games but after losing the first two games of the series it was down to half a game and whoever won Sunday was going to head into the final weekend of conference play with the lead.
The Heels won 8-6, building an early 8-1 lead and holding on as Duke battled back later in the game. Ike Freeman had 3 hits, including a triple, and drove in 2 runs. Brandon Riley (with a double, 2 RBI, and a run), Dylan Enwiller (with a double, an RBI, and a run), and Cody Roberts (with a double and 2 runs) each had a pair of hits. Brandon Martorano had a double, scored a pair of runs, and drove one in. Zack Gahagan had a double and scored a run. And Ashton McGee had the other Heels hit, driving in a run.
Tyler Baum went 5 innings and earned the win. Brett Daniels went the next 3.2 innings, striking out 5. Finally Josh Hiatt got a strikeout with the tying run on base to end the game and earn his 4th save of the season.
May 13
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2007 and 2012 for a dramatic comeback in the final ACC game at the old Bosh that gave the Heels the Coastal Division lead for good, and for the best outing on the mound of Dr. Shane Taylor's Tar Heel career.
May 13, 2007 against Georgia Tech was Senior Day at the Bosh and we honored a group that was vital to pushing the program into the national elite- Robert Woodard, Matt Danford, Bryan Steed, and Joe Pietropaoli.
The game was also crucial when it came to the Coastal Division standings. The Heels came into it trailing Virginia by half a game for the lead.
Things did not get off to a good start. The Yellow Jackets put up 7 runs in the 2nd inning to take a 7-0 lead. But the Heels fought right back in the bottom of the inning. Josh Horton hit a leadoff triple and a Chad Flack sac fly brought him home. 7-1. Seth Williams reached on an error and Tim Fedroff singled to put runners on the corners.
That brought up Benji Johnson and he went deep to right center. 7-4. Reid Fronk was up next and he knocked one out too. 7-5. The Heels made up almost the entire deficit before the 2nd inning was through.
Matt Danford threw a scoreless 3rd and in the bottom half the Heels continued the comeback. Seth Williams drew a walk, Tim Fedroff singled, and on the very next pitch Benji Johnson singled too to load the bases with 1 out.
Reid Fronk singled, scoring Seth. 7-6. And Garrett Gore singled, scoring Tim. And just like that after falling behind 7-0 in the 2nd, the Heels tied the game by the bottom of the 3rd.
Matt Danford got the first couple outs of the 4th. Tim Federowicz came in to pitch with runners on 1st and 2nd and extinguished the threat with a fly out, then threw a scoreless 5th.
Tim Fedroff walked to lead off the bottom of the 5th and Benji Johnson doubled to put a couple runners in scoring position with nobody out. Tim came in to score on a balk to give the Heels an 8-7 lead.
Reid Fronk got hit by a pitch and Garrett Gore worked a walk to load the bases. After throwing a scoreless top half of the inning on the mound Tim Federowicz came up and hit a sac fly to score Benji and give himself some insurance. 9-7 Heels.
The Yellow Jackets scored a couple runs in the 6th to tie it right back up. But the Heels didn't let it stay that way for long. Seth Williams came up with 1 out in the 6th and hit the first pitch he saw out of the park to left to take the lead right back at 10-9. Tim Fedroff and Benji Johnson both walked and then Reid Fronk hit a ball that the Jackets tried to turn into a 3-6-3 double play, but instead threw the ball away. That allowed Tim to come home and make it 11-9.
Tim Federowicz threw a 1-2-3 7th and in the bottom the Heels came back for more. Josh Horton hit a leadoff single, Chad Flack bunted him over to 2nd, and he moved to 3rd on a wild pitch. Seth Williams drew a walk and then Tim Fedroff hit a deep flyball to bring Josh home. 12-9.
On the next pitch after the sac fly Benji Johnson singled. And on the next pitch after that, Reid Fronk singled. That rapid fire sequence of events brought Seth around to score. 13-9.
Andrew Carignan came on and threw a scoreless 8th. In the bottom half Bryan Steed came in to pinch hit on his Senior Day and delivered a single. Mike Cavasinni pinch ran and a Josh Horton single moved him to 3rd. Chad Flack followed with a single of his own to score Cavi and make it 14-9.
The Jackets got a couple runs in the 9th and had runners on the corners with 2 down, bringing the tying run to the plate. But Andrew Carignan struck the guy out swinging to finish the 14-11 comeback victory and clinch the series.
That wasn't the only good news of the day. Virginia lost 8-6 to N.C. State over in Raleigh so the half game lead in the Coastal Division that they started out the day with was now a half game lead for the Tar Heels.
Tim Federowicz got the win for the Heels for going 3.1 innings while allowing only 3 hits, striking out 3 as well. On a day where the Heels gave up 16 hits...but the Jackets gave up 19...that qualified as an all star performance.
Benji Johnson led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a home run and a double, driving in 3 and scoring twice. A trio of Heels had 3 hits each- Reid Fronk (including a home run and 3 RBI), Josh Horton (including a triple and a couple of runs), and Garrett Gore (including a double and an RBI.)
Tim Fedroff had a pair of hits to go with his pair of walks and scored 4 times. Seth Williams also had a pair of walks alongside his home run and came around to score 4 times. Chad Flack singled and drove in a couple runs and Dustin Ackley had a double. Tim Federowicz was the only Heels starter without a hit but given that he was the winning pitcher and did hit a sac fly, he can be forgiven for that.
This was the final ACC home game at the old Bosh, and it was quite a send off.
On May 13, 2012 the Heels already had the series win over Duke in Durham in hand and they were going for the sweep.
Hobbs Johnson was supposed to start on the mound but he was sick. So at the last second the Heels sent Shane Taylor to the mound. Or more accurately now, Dr. Shane Taylor. Shane was one of the best students we've ever had in our program and just graduated from Tufts Medical School.
Shane was someone who really put the student part of student athlete first. But he was a pretty darn good athlete too. He made 64 appearances in his career, throwing 89.1 innings, and had a 9-4 record with a 3.23 ERA while doing it.
This day in Durham was the best of his career. He threw a scoreless 1st with a pair of strikeouts. In the 2nd all three Duke hitters worked full counts. And Shane struck them all out.
In the 3rd the Devils drew a 1 out walk and hit a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd. That constituted their offense for the day. Shane stranded them with another strikeout.
Shane threw a 1-2-3 4th, closing the inning with a K. He got 2 outs on 2 pitches on his way to a 1-2-3 5th. He threw a 1-2-3 6th. In the 7th he again got 2 outs on 2 pitches on his way to a 1-2-3 inning. He was completely dominant.
What he was not was ahead in the game. The Heels were getting more opportunities to make something happen but the game headed to the 8th scoreless.
With 2 outs in the 8th Colin Moran fell behind 1-2 but then singled to keep the inning alive. Jacob Stallings followed with his own single to put runners on the corners.
With 2 down and runners on 1st and 2nd Mike 'Zoom' Zolk came up as a pinch hitter.
I love this game because I think of it as the one my Philly dudes won. Shane Taylor is from the part of New Jersey right outside Philly and Mike Zolk...well...he and his family are as from Philly as any family can possibly be. Shane's family and Zoom's family are about as different temperamentally as a couple of families can be but they've both proven to be life long friends and sometimes I go up to Philly and get to see them both on the same day.
Philly really has contributed a lot to our program. The highlight of this year's shortened season was probably Joey Lancellotti's walkoff home run to beat Middle Tennessee State the first weekend of the season. It was one of those totally unexpected moments since Joey had just been a shutdown relief pitcher his first couple years and hadn't hit.
Joey went back to Philly last summer and really worked on his hitting and guess who worked with him on it the most- Zoom Zolk. When Joey hit that home run everyone working out at the Zoom Baseball Academy more than 400 miles away from Chapel Hill went absolutely insane about the University of North Carolina winning a game in February. It's a great Tar Heel family story.
Anyway back to 2012. Shane is having the day of his life. But he's not getting any support. Zoom comes up and takes a pitch. The next one he smacks to left off the Blue Monster for a double. Colin comes around to score and give the Heels a 1-0 lead. Brian Holberton comes up next and singles to bring in both Jacob and Zoom and give the Heels a 3-0 advantage.
Shane comes back out for the 8th and does the same thing he did the previous 4 innings- retire the side in order. He finished his day with 8 scoreless innings where he allowed only 1 hit and 1 walk, struck out 8, and retired the last 17 batters he faced. And remember again that he wasn't even supposed to start- it was a last second change and he really rose to the occasion.
Michael Morin came on for the 9th to close it out and I remember doing my best to get Shane a standing ovation...even though he wasn't actually on the field, in the middle of the 9th inning to honor one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen.
Michael retired the side in order, including a couple of strikeouts, for his 16th save of the season. Shane's great start and Zoom's big hit gave the Heels the sweep in Durham and also made it the second year in a row with a sweep of the Blue Devils, a streak that would grow to three.
Chaz Frank was the only Heel with multiple hits. They only got 4 hits outside of the 8th inning but those 4 were more than enough with the pitching as it was.
And quick hits from 2006, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018:
-In 2006 the Heels won 5-0 at Virginia to even up the series. Robert Woodard threw a masterpiece- a complete game shutout where he allowed only 6 hits and didn't walk anyone.
Benji Johnson led the way for the Heels with 3 hits, including a double, and drove in a run. Reid Fronk (including a double, driving in 2 runs and scoring a run) and Josh Horton (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits. Mike Cavasinni (including an RBI and a run), Kyle Shelton (including a run), Matt Spencer (including a run), and Chad Flack had the other hits for the Heels. The win pushed the season record to 41-10.
-In 2011 the Heels won the series opener at Georgia Tech 3-2. Patrick Johnson threw 6.2 innings and only allowed a pair of runs, getting the win to go to 9-1 on the season.
RC Orlan came on with the tying run on 2nd in the 7th and got a strikeout to end the threat. Michael Morin came in with runners on the corners and 1 out in the 8th in a 1 run game and got a double play to escape the threat.
Michael threw a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game in the 9th and earn his 6th save of the season, punctuated by an impressive Chaz Frank catch to get the final out while crashing into the outfield wall. The win got the Heels their 40th win of the season, at 40-10.
Colin Moran (including a home run and 2 RBI), Jacob Stallings (including a double and a run), Chaz Frank (including an RBI), and Tommy Coyle (including a run) all had multiple hits for the Heels. Ben Bunting had their other hit.
-In 2014 the Heels played an unusual game in Shelby, NC and beat Gardner-Webb 7-2. It was the second most notable outing of Taylore Cherry's career. He threw 6 shutout innings and earned the 3rd and final win of his Tar Heel career. Diehard fans will always remember Taylore for the first win he got, starting in the ACC Championship game the year before. Trevor Kelley threw the last 3 innings and got the save.
Skye Bolt led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a home run, both driving in and scoring 2 runs. Tyler Ramirez had 3 hits, including a double, and drove in a pair of runs. Landon Lassiter (scoring twice and driving in one) and Wood Myers (with an RBI) each had a pair of hits. Michael Russell doubled and scored a couple runs, Parks Jordan doubled and drove in and scored one, and Korey Dunbar, Alex Raburn, and Colby Barnette also had hits for the Heels.
-In 2016 Zac Gallen made his last start at the Bosh for the Heels against Notre Dame and it was quite a sendoff. He threw 8 scoreless innings, struck out 8, and allowed only 2 hits and a walk.
Zac is going to be a great big league pitcher. One thing revisiting his seasons in Chapel Hill has done is give me a new appreciation for how many nights he was close to unhittable as a Tar Heel. I think it just gets lost in the shuffle because the teams he was on didn't go deep into June but he had as many lights out Friday night starts at the Bosh as just about anyone.
Hansen Butler threw a 1-2-3 9th and struck out the last couple guys he faced to earn the save.
Logan Warmoth was the star on offense for the Heels with a pair of hits, including a home run, and 2 RBI. Cody Roberts (with a run) and Adam Pate had the other 2 hits for the Heels. Tyler Ramirez had an RBI and Brian Miller scored a run.
-In 2017 the Heels went up to Blacksburg and won the first game of the series 9-4. Virginia was simultaneously losing the opener of their series to Miami, giving the Heels a 6 game lead in the Coastal Division game with only 5 games to go. That's the earliest any Tar Heel team has clinched the championship since the ACC started division play.
Brandon Riley led the way with 3 hits, including a home run and a triple, driving in 3 runs. Logan Warmoth had a pair of hits, including a double, and drove in and scored a run. Tyler Lynn went deep and drove in a couple runs, Brian Miller hit a solo shot, Kyle Datres had a hit and scored a couple of runs, and Ashton McGee singled and drove in a run.
Rodney Hutchison got the win for 4.2 scoreless innings of relief where he allowed only 1 hit, didn't walk anyone, and struck out 4. His outing was especially impressive because Virginia Tech is a tough place for pitchers. Josh Hiatt threw a 1-2-3 9th and finished the game with a strikeout. The win pushed the Heels to 40-9 on the season.
-And in 2018 the Heels took on Duke at the DBAP needing a win to hold onto the lead in the Coastal Division. UNC came into the weekend leading the Devils by 2.5 games but after losing the first two games of the series it was down to half a game and whoever won Sunday was going to head into the final weekend of conference play with the lead.
The Heels won 8-6, building an early 8-1 lead and holding on as Duke battled back later in the game. Ike Freeman had 3 hits, including a triple, and drove in 2 runs. Brandon Riley (with a double, 2 RBI, and a run), Dylan Enwiller (with a double, an RBI, and a run), and Cody Roberts (with a double and 2 runs) each had a pair of hits. Brandon Martorano had a double, scored a pair of runs, and drove one in. Zack Gahagan had a double and scored a run. And Ashton McGee had the other Heels hit, driving in a run.
Tyler Baum went 5 innings and earned the win. Brett Daniels went the next 3.2 innings, striking out 5. Finally Josh Hiatt got a strikeout with the tying run on base to end the game and earn his 4th save of the season.
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