#24 North Carolina Records 5-0 Shutout Victory Over Virginia
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March 30, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team was dealt its first shutout loss of the year by the #24 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels this evening in front of 719 spectators at the UVa Baseball Stadium. UNC rode starting pitcher Garry Bakker’s arm to post a complete game shutout and had some timely hitting as the Tar Heels posted their 13th consecutive win to remain undefeated in Atlantic Coast Conference play at 8-0.
North Carolina took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Chris Iannetta was hit by a pitch to reach base before scoring a run on Chad Prosser’s RBI-single up the middle later in the inning. The Tar Heels opened up a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning when Ryan Blake (walk) and Chris Maples (single) each scored a run. Blake scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Iannetta and Maples scored on a Cavalier error.
In the top of the fifth inning, UNC extended its lead to 4-0 when Russ Adams walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then scored a run on Sean Farrell’s RBI-single to shallow center field in the Tar Heels’ next at-bat. North Carolina took a 5-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning when R. Adam’s scored his second run of the game on a RBI-single up the middle by Blake.
UVa’s Jeff Kamrath (4-2) took the loss after going seven innings and gave up five runs (two earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts. UNC’s Bakker went the distance (nine innings) and allowed zero runs on five hits to go along with a game-high 13 strikeouts in a complete game shutout performance.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 15-12 overall, 4-4 in the ACC. North Carolina improves to 19-8 overall, 8-0 in the conference. UNC’s win gives it a 2-0 lead in the weekend series and assures the Tar Heels of winning the conference series.
The Cavaliers and Tar Heels will return to action on Sunday, March 31st to compete in the final game of the three-game weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at the UVa Baseball Stadium.
— UVa —