Baseball ACCtion: Sunday, March 23 :: ACC weekend ends with three series sweeps

March 23, 2008

No. 4 Hurricanes Rout Wake Forest to Win Series, 23-2

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Freshman lefty Chris Hernandez one-hit Wake Forest (11-9, 4-4 ACC) through six innings and struck out eight and Miami scored nine runs in the third inning as the No. 4 Hurricanes won the Atlantic Coast Conference series with a 23-2 win over Wake Forest in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday morning at Mark Light Field. Jemile Weeks, Dennis Raben, Yasmani Grandal and Ryan Perry each hit home runs as the Hurricanes moved to 17-2 and 7-1 in the ACC.

Game three of the series was called due to lightning and rain in the area with Miami leading 9-1 in the bottom of the fourth. The game will not be made up.

Hernandez matched his career-high with eight strikeouts. He led off the game by walking and hitting a batter, before retiring 11 consecutive batters and 18 of the next 20 batters he faced. Anthony Nalepa tossed two scoreless innings and Rene Guerra pitched the final inning.

The Hurricanes tied a school record in game two of the series. The 23-2 win was the fifth straight game that the Hurricanes scored 10 or more runs. The last time a Miami team scored at least 10 runs in five consecutive games was the 1998 team (Lost, 14-10 to Florida; defeated Lynn, 18-3, defeated, Notre Dame, 18-3, defeated Notre Dame, 27-2, defeated Notre Dame, 17-3.

No. 3 Tar Heels Topple Terps To Take Series

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Right fielder Tim Fedroff belted his first career grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs, and third baseman Chad Flack added a grand slam and five RBI in No. 3 North Carolina's 19-1 win over Maryland Sunday at Shipley Field. The Tar Heels (18-4, 7-2 ACC) scored five runs in the fourth, seven in the sixth and five in the eighth to help take their eighth straight series from the Terrapins (11-11, 2-7 ACC).

Fedroff, who was 3-for-5 with four runs scored and six RBI, and Flack, who was 3-for-6 with three runs and five RBI, combined for the majority of the run production, but they were two of the six Tar Heels with at least two hits on the day.

Left fielder Kyle Shelton equaled career highs with four hits and three RBI, and first baseman Dustin Ackley, second baseman Kyle Seager and catcher Tim Federowicz had two hits each. In addition to his second career grand slam, Flack doubled twice, as did Seager, who extended his hitting streak to 18 games. Center fielder Seth Williams drove in two runs and hit safely for the 13th straight game, one shy of his career best.

Freshman right-hander Matt Harvey improved to 3-1 with four strikeouts over six strong innings for Carolina. He allowed one run on five hits and two walks. Four Tar Heel relievers combined for three shutout innings out of the bullpen. Maryland starter Jensen Pupa (0-3) allowed seven runs on 10 hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings.

FSU Completes Sweep Of Virginia Tech With 18-12 Win

Blacksburg, Va. - Despite trailing by as many as six runs twice on Sunday afternoon, Florida State completed a three-game sweep of Virginia Tech with an 18-12 victory at English Field. The Seminoles remained perfect in the ACC as the Garnet and Gold set a season-high with 18 runs on 20 hits. Three Seminoles recorded four hits a piece including Buster Posey (4-for-6), Dennis Guinn (4-for-5) and Tony Delmonico (4-for-5).

With a 9-0 record in league play, Florida State is off to its best start in the conference since starting 13-0 back in 1999. This marks the third time in school history that FSU has started the season undefeated through the first nine games. In 1996, the Seminoles ran out to a 17-0 start.

Guinn had a monstrous day at the plate as he tied a career-high with four hits and five RBIs. The Haines City, Fla., native hit back-to-back home runs in his first two at-bats while driving in a run in each of his first four plate appearances. It marked the second time this season that a Seminole batter has hit home runs in consecutive at-bats as Buster Posey performed the feat against Georgia back on March 12. Guinn also added a pair of doubles in the win.

Buster and Jack Posey combined for five hits, four runs and five RBIs with a career-high three RBIs coming off the bat of young brother Jack. Buster registered four hits in a ballgame for the third time in his career. Delmonico set a season-high with four runs scored while Jason Stidham recorded four walks and scored three times.

Farrell Grand Slam Keys Baseball's 8-6 Win over BC

Webcast on ACC Select

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Jeremy Farrell's grand slam broke a 4-4 tie and capped a five-run fifth inning as the No. 19 Virginia baseball team finished off a sweep of Boston College Sunday with an 8-6 victory over the Eagles at Davenport Field. The win was Virginia's 17th straight at home, which sets a school record.

Matt Packer (So., Germantown, Tenn.) earned the win in relief and moved to 3-0 on the season. He pitched three scoreless innings and allowed four hits and a walk while striking out three. Michael Schwimer (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) tossed the final 1.1 innings and struck out three to record his sixth save.

James MacDonald (2-3) started for Boston College and took the loss after pitching 4.1 innings and giving up six earned runs, six hits and three walks while striking out three. Virginia starter Andrew Carraway (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) went 3.0 innings and gave up four earned runs, five hits and two walks while striking out four.

At the plate, Dan Grovatt (Fr., Tabernacle, N.J.) went 3-for-3 and scored three times, while Farrell had two hits and drove in four. Phil Gosselin (Fr., West Chester, Pa.) drove in two runs. Garret Smith had three hits to lead the Eagles.

Stoneburner Throws Two-Hit Shutout in Clemson's 2-0 Win Over N.C. State Sunday

Clemson, SC - Freshman righthander Graham Stoneburner pitched a two-hit shutout in Clemson's 2-0 victory over N.C. State in front of 4,546 fans at Doug Kingsmore on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers, who won the series 2-1, improved to 14-7 overall and 4-5 in the ACC. N.C. State fell to 13-7 overall and 4-5 in ACC play.

Stoneburner (4-0) allowed just two hits (both singles), no runs, and one walk with seven strikeouts to earn the win. He threw 118 pitches to record Clemson's first individual shutout since June 4, 2005, when Josh Cribb shut out #22 College of Charleston in the Tigers' 6-0 victory in the Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Stoneburner, a Richmond, VA native, allowed a no-out single to Matt Payne in the second inning and a two-out, infield single to Chris Schaeffer in the eighth inning. The other two baserunners he allowed came on a walk and throwing error. He also allowed just one N.C. State player to reach second base, while no Wolfpack player advanced to third base in the entire game, which lasted only one hour and 58 minutes.

N.C. State starter Eryk McConnell (2-1) pitched 7.0 solid innings, allowing six hits, two runs, and one walk with three strikeouts to take the loss.

Duke Tops Georgia Tech 10-3 In Sunday Finale

Webcast on ACC Select

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Gabriel Saade went 5-for-5 with a home run, while Tim Sherlock mashed his first long ball of the season and drove in a career-high four RBI to lead Duke to a 10-3 win over 17th-ranked Georgia Tech in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The five hits from Saade was also a career high, as the sophomore second baseman contributed three singles, a double and a home run while driving in three runs and crossing the plate twice. Sherlock went 2-for-4 on the day with a three-run homer, a double and two runs, while also contributing an RBI with a squeeze bunt in the eighth inning. The Blue Devils churned out 10 runs off of their 11 hits to block a series sweep from the Yellow Jackets, who won the series two games to one.

Freshman starter Grant Monroe (4-1) earned the win after holding Georgia Tech (17-5, 5-4 ACC) to three runs on seven hits over five innings. Michael Ness contributed three perfect innings in relief, while outfielder Alex Hassan closed out the game on the mound with a hitless inning of relief to lock up the win.

Duke (19-5, 4-5 ACC) also received a pair of RBI from catcher Matt Williams, who gunned down his ninth running trying to steal of the season in the game. Freshman shortstop Jake Lemmerman also added an RBI, while third baseman Ryan McCurdy crossed the plate twice and designated hitter Jonathan Nicolla contributed two hits and a run.

Derek Dietrich mashed a solo homer for the Yellow Jackets, while Brad Feltes and Charlie Blackmon added Georgia Tech's other two RBI. Dietrich and Feltes both had mutli-hit days with two hits apiece.