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Cavalier Baseball Tops No. 1 North Carolina 9-6 in Sunday's First Game
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March 18, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 7 Virginia baseball team clinched a series win over No. 1 North Carolina with a 9-6 victory over the Tar Heels in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader. Combined with Saturday’s 7-2 11-inning win, the Cavaliers have captured a series win in Chapel Hill since 2003.
Virginia improves to 19-3 (3-2 ACC) with the win, while North Carolina falls to 17-3 (3-2 ACC).
Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) went 4-for-5 with 2 RBIs and Beau Seabury (Mount Vernon, Wash.) was 3-for-5 with two runs scored to lead Virginia offensively. Greg Miclat (Concord, N.C.) was 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, while Patrick Wingfield (Winchester, Va.) was also 2-for-5.
Andrew Carraway (Marietta, Ga.) got the win for Virginia to improve to 3-0 on the season. He pitched three innings of relief, allowing one run on four hits. Casey Lambert (Harrisonburg, Va.) struck out three in the ninth to record his fourth save of the season.
Virginia took the early lead with two runs in the top of the first. Miclat led off with a single to center. After he moved to second on a wild pitch, he scored on Doolittle’s double off the right field wall. With two outs, Brandon Guyer’s (Herndon, Va.) single up the middle scored Doolittle for the Cavaliers’ second run.
The Tar Heels answered in the bottom of the first. Reid Fronk and Chad Flack had back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. With one out, Tim Federowicz reached on an error to load the bases. Dustin Ackley’s single to left drove in Fronk to cut the lead in half. However, Doolittle struck out Benji Johnson and Brandon Marsh (Alpharetta, Ga.) made a diving catch on a flare to right by Seth Williams to end the threat.
Virginia added to the lead in the top of the second. With two outs, Tim Henry (Fairfield, Conn.) hit a double to right center and scored on a single by Miclat.
North Carolina had the first two batters reach with singles again in the second. Drew Poulk and Garrett Gore each singled and advanced to scoring position on a bunt by Fronk. Flack’s double to the left-centerfield gap drove in two and brought the Tar Heels even at 3-3.
The Tar Heels took the lead, 5-3, with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Josh Horton led off with a hit by pitch. Federowicz doubled to left-centerfield to drive in Horton for Carolina’s first lead of the game. After an infield single by Ackley, Federowicz scored on a groundout by Johnson.
Virginia answered with four in the top of the sixth to retake the lead, 7-5. Seabury and Wingfield opened the inning with back-to-back singles. After Tyler Cannon (Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) bunted the runners into scoring position, pinch-hitter John Scaglione (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) hit a single to right to score Seabury. Pinch-runner Mike Mitchell (Chesapeake, Va.) attempted to steal second but the throw got away from Horton that allowed Mitchell to be safe and Wingfield to score the tying run. Miclat reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. After Marsh walked, he and Miclat advanced on a double steal. Doolittle then gave Virginia the lead with a single up the middle to score Miclat and Marsh.
The Cavaliers added to their lead in the top of the seventh with two runs to make the score 9-5. With one out, Seabury hit a double down the left field line and scored on Wingfield’s single to right-center. After Wingfield moved to second on a wild pitch, Cannon hit a groundball that the shortstop threw away on the throw to first, allowing Wingfield to score.
North Carolina got one run back in the bottom of the eighth. Fronk walked, Flack singled and Federowicz walked to load the bases with one out. Fronk scored on Ackley’s sacrifice fly to right.
With the series win, Virginia becomes the first visiting team to win a series in Chapel Hill since Miami won two and tied one against the Tar Heels in 2005.
The teams will meet in game two of the doubleheader later in the afternoon. Matt Packer (Germantown, Tenn.) will start for Virginia, while Luke Putkonen gets the start for the Tar Heels.