No.1 North Carolina Completes Sweep of No. 11 Miami, 11-7
March 11, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina’s Andrew Carignan came on to record his third save of the season as the No. 1 Tar Heels completed a three-game sweep of No. 11 Miami, 11-7, Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. Dennis Raben homered twice for the Hurricanes on his way to a 3-for-3, four-RBI performance.
Jemile Weeks also had three hits for Miami (10-9, 0-3 ACC), who had 11 hits in the game. Josh Horton went 3-for-5 North Carolina who had three hits in the game.
Manny Miguelez (0-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he allowed seven runs on five hits and walked two. North Carolina used nine pitchers in the game. UNC starter Luke Putkonen pitched four innings and allowed seven runs on six hits. Tyler Trice earned the win relief while Carignan recorded the final out of the game for his third save.
The Hurricanes loaded the bases in the top of the ninth when Weeks reached on an error and Mark Sobolewski singled. Yonder Alonso flied out to left field. Raben walked, but Ryan Jackson grounded out to second base to end the game.
Raben’s second home run of the game came in the top of eighth to cut it to, 10-7. Chad Flack answered right back in the bottom of the eighth when he hit a solo home run to left field pushing the lead back up to 11-7.
UNC stretched its lead to 9-6 in the bottom of the seventh. Chad Flack singled through the left side to start the inning. Josh Horton then slapped a double over the head of Sobolewski at third. Federowicz’s third RBI – a sacrifice fly to right field – put UNC ahead, 8-6. With one out, Dustin Ackley hit a ball to center field that got under a diving Blake Tekotte for a triple, which brought in Horton. Ackley scored on a sacrifice fly for a four-run Carolina lead, 10-6.
The Hurricanes had the tying run on base in the top of the seventh when Weeks led off with a double to right field. Tomas’ ground out moved him to third base. Mark Sobolewski then struck out swinging and Yonder Alonso fouled out to the catcher stranding the base runner.
Miami pulled within 7-6 in the top of the fifth. Weeks led off with a home run to right center. Roger Tomas followed with a double to left center. Tomas scored on Yonder Alonso’s sacrifice fly for the second run of the inning
UNC scored five runs in the bottom of second to go ahead, 5-4. The Tar Heels scored their first run on Drew Poulk’s RBI double. UNC loaded the bases before Benji Johnson hit a grand slam.
Tim Federowicz’s two-run home run in the bottom of the third put the Tar Heels ahead, 7-4.
Raben’s three-run home run in the top of the first gave the Hurricanes a 4-0 lead. Weeks led off with a single. He scored on Mark Sobolewski’s RBI double. After Yonder Alonso walked, Raben launched his third home run of the season to right center.
Miami will host Maine and Rutgers in mid-week games at Mark Light Field. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WVUM (90.5 FM) or via the internet at www.wvum.org.
Game Notes: Seven of North Carolina’s 21 runs in the series came with two outs … Raben had his second multi-home run game of the season. He homered twice in the 8-1 win over Fordham … Miami was last swept against Clemson in ACC play last season at home, 8-6, 6-2 and 14-1 … The last time, Miami was swept on the road was at Florida State during the 2000 season (Apr. 7-9 – 14-13, 12-2, 5-4).
