#4 Tar Heels Defeat Tigers 8-4 Sunday

April 13, 2008

Clemson, SC –

North Carolina pounded out 18 hits to hand Clemson an 8-4 defeat and sweep the weekend series on Sunday afternoon in front of 5,240 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The #4 Tar Heels improved to 29-7 (13-4 ACC), while the Tigers dropped to 18-17 (6-12 ACC).

Tar Heel reliever Rob Catapano (3-0) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up one run and three hits with four strikeouts to earn the win. Tyler Trice pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing one hit while striking out three to pick up his first save of the year.

Ryan Hinson (2-5) suffered the loss for the Tigers, allowing five runs (four earned) and 11 hits in 5.0 innings pitched.

The Tar Heels scored the contest’s initial run in the top of the first inning. Leadoff batter Dustin Ackley reached first on a throwing error by Stan Widmann, and he moved to second and third on back-to-back infield groundouts before scoring on an infield single by Tim Fedroff.

The Tigers charged ahead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Mike Freeman got things started with a leadoff single up the middle. Wilson Boyd put runners on the corners with a single to center off an 0-2 offering, but he was later retired at second trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt. Doug Hogan drove in Freeman with a one-out double down the left-field line before moving to third on a passed ball. Ben Paulsen followed with a walk before Jeff Schaus plated Hogan with a fielder’s choice to second that eliminated Paulsen. With two outs, Kyle Parker drove in a run with a double to left-center.

North Carolina evened the score 3-3 with two runs in the second inning. Seth Williams led off with a double down the left-field line. Garrett Gore followed with another double, this time down the right-field line, to plate Williams. Gore moved to third on Tim Federowicz’s flyball to right before scoring on Greg Holt’s sacrifice fly to center.

Clemson took a 4-3 lead in the third inning. Paulsen led off with a single up the middle, moved to second on Schaus’ walk, advanced to third as Parker grounded into a double play, and scored on an infield single by Matt Sanders.

North Carolina reclaimed the lead 5-4 in the fifth when Kyle Seager hit a one-out, two-run homer to left. It was his sixth home run of the season and third of the series.

With Clemson down just one run in the seventh inning, the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs, but Parker flied out to right field to end the threat.

The Tar Heels broke the game open with three runs, all coming with two outs, in the eighth inning to take an 8-4 lead. After the first two batters of the frame were retired, Ackley singled to left and moved to second on a passed ball before scoring on a single to left by Kyle Shelton. Fedroff followed with a single through the right side to put two runners aboard. Flack and Seager each drove in a run with singles as well.

Clemson again loaded the bases in the eighth inning, this time with one out. But the next two Tigers struck out to keep North Carolina ahead by four runs.

Seager went 3-for-5 with three RBIs to lead North Carolina. Every Tar Heel starter had at least one hit. Four different Tigers tallied one RBI apiece, while Freeman and Boyd both totaled two hits for Clemson, who stranded 11 runners on base.

Clemson will play host to Western Carolina on Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 PM.