Day 1 of the ACC Baseball Tournament got off to a flying start today.
The Cavs and Noles opened the tournament up with a battle between each teams ace. Virginia sent Sean Doolittle to the mound to face the Seminoles ace in Bryan Henry. Doolittle pitched 6 innings giving up only 4 hits and striking out 9 Seminole batters while only letting up 1 run. Henry pitched 7 innings giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits while only striking out 1 batter. The UVA offense was very proficient at moving runners along the bases. The Seminoles struck out 15 times on the day and this needs to change if the Seminoles want to get deep in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolfpack were led by Gib Hobson’s complete game in a 9-3 victory over the number 2 seed North Carolina Tar Heels. Hobson gave up a three-run homer in the first inning to Chad Flack but settled down after that. He pitched the complete game scattered 10 hits with 1 walk and had only 3 strikeouts. Andrew Miller took the loss for the Tar Heels which is only his second on the season. He gave up 7 runs (5 earned) with 5 walks in 6 innings.
This game was a pitching duel between Scott Maine (UM) and Blake Wood (GT) with the Jackets coming out with a 2-1 win. The Miami run came on a Eddy Rodriguez home run in the second inning. The Georgia Tech runs came in the bottom of the fourth when Jeff Kindel got a one out double. He moved to third base on a Whit Robbins single in which Robbins was thrown out when he was trying to stretch it into a double. Wes Hodges came up and lined a 2 out double down the left field line to drive the tying run in. The score stayed tied until the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs Mike Trapani hit a solo homerun to give you the final scoreline. Scott Maine pitched 7.2 innings giving up 6 hits and 2 earned runs. Blake Wood pitched 8.1 innings and gave up only 5 hits before turning it over to the bullpen. Brad Rulon picked up the save by getting the last two outs by way of the K.
Clemson used a 13 hit attack to beat the Demon Deacons 13-1 in a 7 inning game which was shortened on the ten run rule which is in effect for the tournament. Clemson was led by Freshman D.J. Mitchell who got three RBI’s in the game for the Jack Leggett Tigers. Taylor Harbin was a homer shy of the cycle in a 3 for 3 performance with an RBI. P.J. Zocchi allowed one run on four hits in six innings of work for the Tigers. Steve Richard pitched a scoreless 7th inning for the Tigers giving up two hits and striking out two. Wake Forest starter Eric Nielsen had a rough night pitching only 3.2 innings giving up 6 runs (5 Earned) on five hits and three walks. Wake reliever Kyle Young did not have an easier time either by pitching 2.1 innings and gave up 7 runs (4 earned) on eight hits and two bases on balls.
