May 14, 2009

Eagles Take Opener From No. 4 UNC, 3-1

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - All-America Alex White worked seven strong innings, but No. 4 North Carolina stranded 12 runners and committed three errors in a 3-1 loss to Boston College Thursday at Shea Field. The Eagles (31-21, 13-13 ACC) locked up a berth in next week's ACC Tournament with their first win over the Tar Heels (39-14, 17-10 ACC) in 10 meetings.

White (7-3) held the Eagles to just six hits and two earned runs over seven innings. He fanned six and issued only one walk before Jacob Stallings set down all three batters faced in the eighth in his second career outing.

Starter John Leonard worked 5 1/3 innings for the Eagles and allowed one run on five hits and three walks, while striking out five. Matt Brazis (1-0) picked up the win for Boston College, and Mike Belfiore struck out four over three innings to earn his eighth save.

Ben Bunting, Garrett Gore and Levi Michael had two hits each for the Tar Heels, while Barry Butera had a game-high three hits for the Eagles.

Virginia Tech Hits Walkoff HR in 10th, Tops No. 10 Baseball

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Austin Wates hit a walkoff home run with one out in the 10th inning to lift Virginia Tech to a 5-4 victory over the No. 10 Virginia baseball team Thursday at English Field. The Hokies’ win breaks their 12-game losing streak to Virginia which dated to the 2003 season.

UVA had trailed the game by two in the sixth inning, only to rally on a solo home run by Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) and a ninth-inning solo blast by Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.).

Playing in their first extra-inning game of the season, the Cavaliers suffered their seventh one-run loss in ACC play and the ninth by three runs or fewer.

Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) pitched the final 3.1 innings for UVa and dropped to 6-3 with the loss. He struck out seven batters and was dominating until Wates’ long ball. Ben Rowen (4-2) did not allow a run over the final two innings for the Hokies to earn the victory.

Florida State Downs Grambling State In Rain Shortened Game

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State (37-14) returned to the win column Thursday evening downing Grambling State (14-32) 9-1 in a game called with one out in the bottom of the six due to heavy rain that pounded the Tallahassee area. With the win, the Seminoles pushed their consecutive win total to 12 straight on Mike Martin Field inside Dick Howser Stadium.

Florida State grabbed the early lead and never looked back scoring twice in the second and five in the third to run out to a commanding 7-0 lead. Six of the nine runs scored on Thursday night came on two outs. The Seminoles finished the game with 13 walks, two off the season-high set against Hofstra.

"I was very pleased with our approach to tonight's game," said head coach Mike Martin. "There was no one just going through the motions. I liked the way we went out there and got after it. We were very disciplined (at the plate), very proud of what I saw out there."

#14 Tigers Top N.C. State 13-8 Thursday

Raleigh, NC - Chris Epps, Mike Freeman, and Brad Miller all totaled three hits and at least two RBIs apiece to lead #14 Clemson to a 13-8 victory over N.C. State in front of 802 fans at Doak Field on Thursday night. The Tigers, who took a 1-0 series lead, improved to 37-17 overall and 17-11 in the ACC. The Wolfpack fell to 25-29 overall and 10-18 in ACC play.

The Tigers pounded out 15 hits and walked nine times, leading to 13 runs. It was a balanced effort, as no Tiger scored more than two runs, had more than three hits, or totaled more than three RBIs.

Senior righthander Trey Delk (4-1) earned the win for the Tigers. In 6.0 innings pitched, he allowed five hits and two runs. Wolfpack starter Jimmy Gillheeney (6-5) suffered the loss, as he yielded three hits, six runs, and four walks in 1.0 innings pitched.

For the ninth game in a row, the Tigers took the game's first lead. Epps led off the game with a single to left field. Freeman and Jeff Schaus followed with walks to load the bases, then Ben Paulsen singled through the right side to score Epps. Kyle Parker was hit-by-pitch to bring home Freeman and Wilson Boyd walked to score Schaus. Two batters later, Miller walked to score Paulsen. After Jason Stolz flied out for out #2, Epps slapped his second hit of the inning when he lined a single to left-center to score Parker and Boyd, giving the Tigers a 6-0 lead after 11 Tigers batted in the opening frame.

No. 21 Miami Wraps Up Regular Season at Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The 21st-ranked University of Miami baseball team will wrap up its 2009 regular season schedule this week when the Hurricanes travel to North Carolina to face Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest, May 14-16, at the Wake Forest Baseball Park.

Miami (32-18, 15-12 ACC) comes in having won its last two ACC weekends while Wake Forest (22-27, 6-21 ACC) has dropped its last four league series. Game one of the three-game set between the Hurricanes and the Demon Deacons is slated for 7 p.m. Thursday night with game two is set for 6 p.m. Friday. Both teams will then wrap up their regular season schedule Saturday at 1 p.m.

UM ace Chris Hernandez continues to improve as the season progresses. After holding his opponents to two runs or less just twice in his first eight starts, Hernandez has now held his last four opponents - North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Bethune-Cookman - to two runs or less. Since his April 17 start at North Carolina, Hernandez has allowed just four earned runs in 27 innings (1.33 ERA).

Chris Herrmann has joined Scott Lawson and Jason Hagerty as one of the team's top offensive threats as of late. Over UM's last 20 games, Herrmann is hitting .364 with three homers, 15 RBI, 22 runs, 18 walks and a .512 on-base percentage. Lawson continues to lead the club in hitting, entering the weekend with a .348 average while Hagerty leads the team in extra-base hits (25) and RBI (46).

House Powers No. 7 Tech Baseball Over Duke, 10-3

DURHAM, N.C. - Chris House tied a career-high with four RBI, and Deck McGuire scattered five hits over eight innings to improve to 10-0 on the season, as seventh-ranked Georgia Tech handed Duke a 10-3 loss Thursday night at Jack Coombs Field.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets (34-13-1) improved to 17-8-1 against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents and are one game ahead of North Carolina in the race for the Coastal Division title after the Tar Heels dropped a 3-1 decision at Boston College earlier in the day.

The loss dropped Duke to 32-22 on the season and 13-15 in ACC games. The two teams will meet again at 2 p.m. Friday in the second game of the series.

Holding a narrow 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning, the Jackets loaded the bases when Duke starter Christopher Manno (5-5) walked two batters and hit another. House then cleared the bases with a triple off the centerfield wall, which pushed Tech's lead to 6-2.