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Hot Heels cool down ECU
By Denny O'Brien
©2001 Bonesville.net
[
View Box Score ] CHAPEL HILL —
Nothing could cloud the Carolina blue skies over Boshamer Stadium Tuesday
night, not even a purple haze. North Carolina struck early and often
against cross-state rival East Carolina en route to an easy 10-1
non-conference victory.
Breathing Down the Neck |
Home plate umpire Stan Johnson
hovers over the shoulder of North Carolina catcher Chris
Iannetta as East Carolina senior third baseman Bryant Ward
gets set for a pitch during last night's game at Boshamer
Stadium. The Tar Heels led from start to finish and won 10-1,
avenging a 2-1 loss to the Pirates two weeks ago in
Greenville. |
Photos by Denny O'Brien
©2002 Bonesville.net. |
|
|
With the win, the 15th-ranked Tar Heels improved to 34-15 on the season,
avenging an earlier loss to the Pirates. East Carolina, ranked 14th
nationally, fell to 33-11-1, ending its five-game winning streak.
"We didn't do anything particularly well tonight," assistant coach Kevin
McMullan said. "But, it's like what I shared with the guys -- when you have
a long season, you've got to be able to flush it down the toilet, come back
tomorrow (against UNC-W) and play a great baseball team."
The Tar Heels struck immediately off starter Jason Mandryk with a
towering lead-off homer by Adam Greenberg, his 14th of the season. First
baseman Jeremy Cleveland connected later in the inning for a sacrifice fly
to drive in Sean Farrell and give Carolina an early 2-0 lead.
The second inning didn't get much better, with the Heels plating six more
on four hits, highlighted by Chris Maples' two-RBI double down the left
field line. Chris Mangum added a two-out, two-RBI single as the Heels sent
12 batters to the plate in the stanza.
Starter Jason Mandryk took the loss to drop his record to 5-2 on the
season. The senior right-hander lasted just 1 1/3 innings, yielding four
runs on four hits, while issuing one walk and hitting another. The Pirates
got little relief from Ashley Capps and Jason Tourangeau, who combined for 2
2/3 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and eight walks.
Whitley Benson, making his first career start for Carolina, pitched six
shutout innings to improve to 2-1.
"You have to tip your hats to North Carolina," McMullan said. "They
pitched pretty well, swung the bats early, and we didn't throw as many
strikes as we needed to. They swung the bats at the right time, and we
could never catch up."
The Heels hammered out 11 hits on the evening, while the East Carolina
was limited to just five. Senior catcher Clayton McCullough paced the
Pirates offensively with two hits in three trips to the plate.
There will be little rest for the Pirates, who host rival UNC-Wilmington
(34-11) tonight at Harrington Field. The Seahawks are fresh off a 17-1
throttling over N.C. State last night.
"UNC-Wilmington
is playing very good baseball," McMullan said. "They're leading that
conference (CAA). We've got a great challenge ahead of us tomorrow, and
we're excited about it. It will give us a chance to bounce back quickly
after not playing as well as we would have liked.
"I think this team has great character. Our seniors have done a great
job. They don't like losing, but they know that there's another day
tomorrow."
There will also be another day this weekend — actually, three of them —
when Saint Louis comes to Greenville for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday Conference
USA series.
[
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02/23/2007 02:05:56 AM
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