Baseball ACCtion: Sunday, April 27 :: Miami, Clemson and NC State complete series sweeps.

April 27, 2008

Tar Heels Outlast Florida State To Take Series

Webcast on ACC Select

CARY, N.C. - Second baseman Kyle Seager singled home the tying run in the seventh inning and had a key base hit in the game-winning rally in the 10th to send North Carolina to a 2-1 win and a series victory over Florida State Sunday at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex. Despite being held hitless through six innings, the Tar Heels (38-8, 18-5 ACC) managed to stay in the game by limiting the Seminoles (35-7, 19-5 ACC) to a season-low four hits for the second time in the series.

With the contest tied at one heading into the bottom of the 10th, third baseman Chad Flack drew a leadoff walk from FSU starter Elih Villanueva (4-2) to start the series-clinching rally. Seager roped a 2-0 pitch from reliever John Gast down the right field line to put runners on the corners, and catcher Tim Federowicz was intentionally walked to bring up designated hitter Mark Fleury with the bases loaded and no outs.

Fleury needed to see just four pitches from Gast to drive in the game-winning run with a walk-off base on balls.

Right-hander Rob Wooten (3-1) picked up his second win over the weekend with two shutout innings out of the bullpen. Villanueva pitched into the 10th and held the Tar Heels to just two runs on two hits and a walk but took the tough-luck loss. He struck out three and was relieved by Gast after issuing the leadoff walk to Flack in the 10th inning.

Duke Tops Maryland 2-1 To Clinch Series

DURHAM, N.C. - Jonathan Foreman held Maryland to three hits over seven shutout innings before Nate Freiman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give Duke a 2-1 series-clinching win over Maryland Sunday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field.

Foreman retired 11 straight over his last four innings and sat down the side in order in four of his career-high seven innings pitched. The sophomore right-hander fanned four batters in the game and stranded four Terrapins on base, including three in scoring position. The scoreless outing lowered Foreman's ERA to 1.42 on the season and extended a streak of 13 consecutive innings without an earned run, all of which have come against ACC opponents. Over his last 23 innings of work, Foreman has given up just one earned run.

Despite the quality start, Foreman came away with a no-decision when Maryland's Bill Rice tied the game with a two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth inning off of Duke closer Alex Hassan (3-0). The Blue Devils (31-13-1, 8-13-1 ACC) were able to stage a two-out rally of their own in the bottom of the ninth, however, that began with an intentional walk to Hassan and ended when Matt Williams and Freimanwere each hit by pitches to send in the game-winning run. Freiman's RBI hit-by-pitch gave Hassan his second consecutive win after the two-way Blue Devil blew his first save of the season.

No. 1 Miami Completes Sweep of No. 16 Virginia, 10-0

Webcast on ACC Select

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Sophomore third baseman Mark Sobolewski tied a career-high with six RBI and senior right-hander Enrique Garcia tossed seven scoreless innings as No. 1 Miami (36-5, 20-2 ACC) shut out No. 16 Virginia, 10-0, completing a three-game series sweep of the Cavaliers (32-15, 13-11 ACC) Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field.

Sobolewski finished 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, six RBI and one run scored as Miami swept its fourth three-game series this season over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.

Garcia (3-1), making his ninth start of the season, scattered three hits and two walks over seven innings while striking out five Cavaliers to earn his third win of the season. Relievers Anthony Nalepa and P.J. Fisher each pitched a scoreless inning in relief sealing the win for Garcia and the shutout for the Hurricanes.

Sophomore shortstop Ryan Jackson also had three hits for UM, going 3-for-5 with two RBI. Blake Tekotte and Adan Severino each went 2-for-4 with Tekotte finishing the contest as one of four Hurricanes along with Jemile Weeks, Yonder Alonso and Dennis Raben to score two runs.

Mitchell Pitches Clemson to 10-2 Win Over Virginia Tech Sunday

Webcast on ACC Select

Clemson, SC - Junior righthander D.J. Mitchell pitched 7.1 solid innings to lead Clemson to a 10-2 victory over Virginia Tech in front of 3,641 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Clemson, who swept the weekend series, improved to 24-20-1 overall and 10-13-1 in ACC play. The Hokies dropped to 18-26 overall, 4-20 in the ACC.

Mitchell (5-3) fanned a career-high 10 batters to earn the win. He allowed one unearned run on three hits with four walks in 7.1 innings pitched.

Hokie starter Jesse Hahn (2-5) suffered the loss, as he allowed six runs (four earned) on five hits in 4.1 innings pitched.

The Tigers got on the scoreboard first with four runs in the third inning. Doug Hogan got things started with a double down the left-field line and Stan Widmann was hit by a pitch. Matt Sanders then moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. With one out, Mike Freeman plated both runners with a single to right before moving to second on the throw. Freeman then moved to third on a groundout before Wilson Boyd crushed a two-out, two-run homer to right. It was his seventh long ball of the season.

No. 22 NC State Baseball Completes Sweep Of BC, 14-4

Webcast on ACC Select

RALEIGH, N.C. - Eleven NC State hitters had base hits, and seven drove in at least one run Sunday to lead the Wolfpack past Boston College 14-4 in the final game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series. The Wolfpack, which won the first two games by scores of 5-1 and 3-2, swept the series.

With the sweep, NC State inches closer to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference's Atlantic Division. The Wolfpack improved to 30-13 overall and 15-8 in the conference. With North Carolina's 2-1 extra-inning victory over Florida State on Sunday, the second-place Pack is now 3 ½ games behind the Seminoles in the division race. NC State and Florida State meet one another in Tallahassee in the final series of the regular season. Between then and now, the Wolfpack has a three-game series at Maryland, while the Seminoles have a three-game set at Clemson.

BC actually had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 Sunday before a pair of three-run innings by NC State put the issue to rest. Garret Smith hit a second-inning sacrifice fly to put the Eagles up 1-0. Drew Martin's infield single in the bottom of the inning scored a hustling Nick Stanley from second base to tie the score at 1-1. Tony Sanchez doubled home Marc Perdios in the top of the third to make it 2-1, and the Wolfpack took charge from there.

Hunter and Dykstra Lead Wake Forest to 7-5 Defeat of Georgia Tech

Webcast on ACC Select

ATLANTA, Ga. - Behind 8 1/3 innings from starter Ben Hunter and a two-run home run from Allan Dykstra, Wake Forest salvaged the final game of its weekend series at Georgia Tech, picking up a 7-5 defeat of the Yellow Jackets Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.

With the win, the Demon Deacons move to 17-27 overall and 8-15 in the ACC. The Jackets drop to 31-13 overall and 12-12 in conference play.

After the start of the game was delayed almost half an hour, the Deacons got out of the gate quickly with an early 2-0 lead. After the Jackets tied the scored 2-2, Wake took a 3-2 lead that Georgia Tech would come back to tie. However, the Deacs were able to push the go-ahead run across in the sixth and add three important insurance runs in the seventh.

The three-run seventh would prove key, as the Yellow Jackets scored twice in the bottom half of the inning and threatened in the ninth by putting the first two runners on. Alex Wiesner and Phil Negus came on in relief of Hunter to quickly record the final two outs of the game.