The College Baseball Blog continues our tradition of bringing our readers a daily recap on ACC action. There was only three games on Friday with five games postponed because of bad weather. All the recaps come from the respective schools Press Releases.
North Carolina 7 FAU 1
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Senior center fielder Seth Williams and sophomore left fielder Dustin Ackley hit two home runs apiece to lead No. 2 North Carolina to a 7-1 season-opening win over Florida Atlantic Friday at FAU Stadium. Sophomore right-hander Alex White picked up the victory for the Tar Heels, who improved to 10-0 in season openers under head coach Mike Fox.
The two-homer effort was a career-first for Williams, who had three hits and matched a career best with four RBI. Ackley equaled a career high with four hits for the sixth occasion and homered twice for the second time in his career. He added three runs scored and two RBI.
White (1-0) struck out six and allowed one unearned run on five hits and two walks to snap a three-start losing streak dating to last season. The Tar Heels got 3 1/3 shutout innings from relievers Rob Wooten, Ryan Leach and Nate Striz to close out the victory, which was No. 399 at Carolina for Fox.
FAU starter Mickey Storey (0-1) went 4 1/3 innings, scattering four hits and four walks, while striking out three. He allowed three runs, including two solo homers. Four different Owls each had two hits on the night.
Ackley, the 2007 national freshman of the year, picked up where he left off last season with a solo shot in the top of the first. The Walnut Cove, N.C., native belted a 1-0 offering from Storey out to right for his first homer of the night.
White worked out of trouble early, stranding two in the first and allowing a leadoff double in the second. He bounced back to strike out the side, holding Travis Ozga at second to preserve the one-run lead.
After the Tar Heels left runners on the corners in the third, Williams connected on Carolina’s second solo home run to lead off the fourth. He sent a 1-1 pitch from Storey deep to left for the first of his two homers.
In the fifth, right fielder Tim Fedroff walked and scored on a Kyle Seager RBI groundout for a 3-0 lead, and Williams followed with a towering homer to left for his 27th career home run and a six-run cushion for White and the Tar Heels. Ackley also added his second hit of the night in the four-run inning.
FAU got on the board with an unearned run in the sixth, but Wooten came on to fan pinch hitter Nick Criaris with the bases loaded to end the Owls’ threat.
Carolina quickly got that run back in the top of the seventh when Ackley hit a 1-2 pitch out to left for his fifth home run in his last five games played dating to last season.
Friday’s game marked the collegiate debuts for Zeke Blanton, who pinch ran in the eighth inning, and pitchers Leach and Striz, who worked the eighth and ninth innings. Sophomore Mark Fleury made his first career start at designated hitter. Striz struck out the side in the ninth.
The series continues at 4 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday with junior right-hander Adam Warren and sophomore lefty Rob Catapano set to start for the Tar Heels.
Miami (FL) 3 Cincinnati 1
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Sophomore lefty Eric Erickson struck out six in six innings while fellow sophomore third baseman Mark Sobolewski and freshman designated hitter Joe Terdoslavich combined for four hits and two RBI to lead the No. 10 ranked University of Miami baseball team to a 3-1 win over Cincinnati Friday night at Mark Light Field. The three Sarasota High School teammates helped the Hurricanes (1-0) win its 12th season-opener in 15 seasons under head coach Jim Morris.
Erickson (1-0) picked up his first win of the season, allowing just one run on four hits in the six innings of work. Sobolewski went a team-best 3-for-4, including an RBI single in the first and Terdoslavich drove in what would prove to be the game-winning run with an RBI single of his own in the first inning. Sophomore shortstop Ryan Jackson finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Sophomore right-hander Kyle Bellamy struck out a career-high four batters in two innings of work, before giving way to redshirt junior closer Carlos Gutierrez. Gutierrez tossed a scoreless ninth for his first collegiate save in his first appearance since having sat out last season following Tommy John surgery.
The Hurricanes didn’t waste any time putting runs up on the board, plating two in the first off Osterbrock. Jemile Weeks blooped a single to center with one out. Sobolewski, the cleanup man, singled to left with two outs, bringing home Weeks from second for a 1-0 UM lead. After Sobolewski stole second, Terdoslavich put UM up 2-0 with an RBI single to left of his own, bringing home Sobolewski.
Cincinnati would get one run back in the top of the third when Cameron Satterwhite, who doubled to lead off the inning, scored two batters later on an error by Yonder Alonso at first.
The `Canes would go up by two again in the seventh, when a Blake Tekotte sacrifice fly to left brought home Jackson, who had singled to lead off the inning, from third.
Cincinnati starter Dan Osterbrock, who settled down after giving up two runs in the first, suffered his first defeat of the season despite striking out eight Hurricanes. The Bearcats used Jake Geglein and Billy Welsh for an inning each in relief, with Geglein allowing UM’s third run of the evening.
Cameron Satterfield, Tony Campana, Mike Spina and Ryan Baker each had one hit for Cincinnati with Jamel Scott recording the lone RBI.
Game two of three game series is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m. with the series finale slated for 12 p.m. Sunday.
Georgia Tech 14 Youngstown State 0
ATLANTA – David Duncan tossed seven shutout innings while Chris House and Charlie Blackmon led the Yellow Jackets with three hits apiece as No. 25 Georgia Tech (1-0) defeated Youngstown State (0-1), 14-0, in the season opener Friday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Duncan (1-0) pitched an efficient seven innings, throwing just 80 pitches and yielding only two hits to the Penguins. He struck out six and walked two before Deck McGuire and Michael Hutts closed out the game with scoreless innings of work. The trio allowed just three singles and just one runner past first base in the game.
House and Blackmon both went 3-for-5 on the day, while Luke Murton, Jason Haniger and Jay Dantzler added two hits apiece. Dantzler drove in a game-high three runs, two of which came on his first career home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Jackets opened the bottom of the first inning with four-consecutive singles, the last of which, by Murton, plated House and freshman shortstop Derek Dietrich before a sacrifice fly by Tony Plagman gave Tech a 3-0 lead.
The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Tech added four unearned runs to push its lead to seven. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jeff Ussery’s drive to center field was botched by John Koehnlein to score Blackmon, Murton and Plagman before Dantzler drove in Ussery for the final run of the frame with a pinch-hit RBI single.
Plagman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Tech’s eighth run of the game with two outs in the eighth before Thomas Nichols drove in two runs on a triple to left field. Dantzler then scored Nichols with the team’s first home run of the season to cap the scoring for the Jackets.
Lucas Engle (0-1) took the loss for the Penguins, giving up six runs, only two of which were earned, on eight hits in 4.2 innings pitched.
The Jackets and Penguins will continue the series Saturday with a 2 p.m. game at Russ Chandler Stadium. Fans may follow along by watching ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv) or via live stats at Ramblinwreck.com.
Postponed Games in the ACC (Click on link of game for an update on the schedule)
Duquesne at FSU
Wake Forest at Pepperdine
Appalachian State at NC State
Boston College at Ga Southern
Iona at Duke
