No. 1 Baseball Falls To No. 8 North Carolina, 6-0

March 31, 2000

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Eighth-ranked North Carolina handed No. 1 Clemson its first Atlantic Coast Conference loss of the season Friday evening at Boshamer Stadium, blanking the Tigers 6-0 behind a sensational outing from starting pitcher Ryan Snare. Carolina improves to 26-5, 3-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Clemson drops to 23-5 overall, 3-1 in ACC play.

Snare (6-1) was outstanding on the mound for the Tar Heels in earning his sixth win. The junior lefty allowed just two hits while striking out seven and walking four over 6.2 scoreless innings for victory. Snare has not allowed an earned run in his last 13.2 innings of work. Scott Berney (7-1) took the loss, his first at Clemson in eight appearances, despite also having an impressive showing on the hill. He allowed just two runs, one earned, on three hits while striking out seven over 7.0 innings.

“The pitching was outstanding on both sides,” said UNC head coach Mike Fox. Any time you shut out a Clemson team, you’ve done the job on the mound.

“We weren’t concerned with their ranking. We just knew we started off in a hole in the ACC (0-4), and we have to get back to .500. Getting the first game in a series like this is big, especially at home.”

Berney pitched 4.1 hitless innings for the Tigers before Carolina got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Matt McCay reached on an error by second baseman Ryan Riley and went to third on a single by Russ Adams, UNC’s first hit of the game. Sean Farrell’s fielder’s choice scored McCay to give Carolina the 1-0 advantage.

The Tar Heels added a second run in the sixth. Adam Greenberg led off the inning and reached base when he was hit by a Berney pitch. After Greenberg stole second base, Moylan walked and the Tar Heels had runners at first and second base with no outs. Clay Hooper’s single to left scored Greenberg and gave the Heels a 2-0 lead after six innings. A beautiful diving catch of a Tyrell Godwin fly ball by Tiger centerfielder Patrick Boyd helped Clemson hold off any additional Tar Heel runs in the sixth.

The Tigers threatened in the top of the seventh. An error and a walk gave Clemson runners at first and second with no outs, but Snare got both Riley and Mike Calitri to pop out. Ryan Earey then took the mound and Casey Stone flied out to left to end the inning.

After Earey pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, Carolina blew the game open with four runs in the bottom half of that inning for the final 6-0 tally. Greenberg, who saw his 21-game hitting streak come to an end after going 0-for-2, was again hit by a pitch to lead off an inning and he again stole second base to move into scoring position. Moylan doubled him home for the 3-0 lead. McCay knocked home Moylan with a sacrifice bunt and Chris Maples knocked in two more runs with a pinch-hit single to center.

Derrick DePriest finished off the Tigers in the ninth, striking out Jarrod Schmidt to end the game.

The Tar Heels and Tigers are back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. (please note time change), while Sunday’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.