Here is your ACC Recap for March 4th.
#1 Florida 8 #26 Miami 3
Sophomore Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) threw five scoreless innings and No. 1 Florida (8-1) raced out to an 8-0 lead through four innings on its way to an 8-3 victory over No. 24 Miami (4-5) on Friday night in front of 4,587 fans at McKethan Stadium. It was the opener of the teams’ weekend three-game series.
Johnson (3-0) matched his career high of nine strikeouts and has yet to yield a run in 17 innings this season. The southpaw was supported by an offense that featured a season-best 3-for-3, three-RBI performance by senior Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) and a two-run homer by sophomore Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) (2-for-5).
Florida Recap
Miami (FL) Recap
#4 South Carolina 6 #9 Clemson 3
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Brady Thomas, Christian Walker and Scott Wingo each tallied two-run homers and on the back of junior left-hander Michael Roth’s quality start, South Carolina erased an early three-run deficit to defeat Clemson 6-3 on Friday evening in front of a sellout crowd of 8,242 fans at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks are now 8-0 on the year while the loss drops Clemson to 6-2 for the season. Game two of the series is set for Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. with first pitch at 4:15 p.m.
Roth, who hurled a complete game vs. the Tigers last year at the College World Series, was effective again as he allowed three runs, all unearned, on seven hits with six strikeouts and three walks in seven innings pitched. Gamecock sophomore right-hander Matt Price hurled 1.2 perfect innings of relief and struck out the side in the top of the ninth for his third save of the year. Clemson starter Scott Weismann suffered the loss and is now 2-1 on the year. He went five innings and allowed four runs on six hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
South Carolina Recap
Clemson Recap
ATHENS, Ga. – Florida State junior pitcher Sean Gilmartin continued his career-long mastery of Georgia Friday night at chilly Foley Field, but it nearly wasn’t enough for the Seminoles.
Gilmartin’s brilliance – a career-high 11 strikeouts over eight innings of one-hit, shutout work – was nearly overshadowed by Georgia’s ninth inning rally. The Bulldogs scored five times against the Seminoles previously impervious bullpen before Daniel Bennett struck out Curt Powell with the bases loaded to preserve the 6-5 victory.
Game 1: #8 Virginia 12 Cornell 1
Game 2: #8 Virginia 12 Rider 0
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The eighth-ranked Virginia baseball team won a pair of games Friday, downing Cornell 12-1 before shutting out Rider 12-0 in the nightcap at Davenport Field. Virginia improved to 10-1 with the victories.
Virginia will play two more games Saturday, taking on Rider at 11 a.m. and Cornell at 2 p.m. Cornell and Rider will square off at 5 p.m.
Virginia Recap
Cornell Recap
Rider Recap
#18 North Carolina 5 Stony Brook 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Patrick Johnson threw seven one-run innings as No. 17 North Carolina beat visiting Stony Brook 5-1 Friday night at Boshamer Stadium. The win was Johnson’s second in as many starts as Tom Zengel paced the offense with three RBI on the day. The Tar Heels and Seawolves will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. to conclude the series.
Johnson avoided trouble throughout the contest as the Seawolves moved a runner to second base in each of the first four innings. The senior right-hander was able to escape trouble with timely strikeouts in the first and second innings and via a pop out in the third inning but was not as lucky in the fourth.
Game 1: #28 Georgia Tech 10 Rutgers 0
ATLANTA – Mark Pope tossed his second career complete-game shutout to lead No. 23 Georgia Tech to a 10-0 win over Rutgers in game one of two on Friday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. Game two is currently in progress.
Pope (3-0) scattered four hits over nine innings, striking out six batters while not issuing a single walk to the Scarlet Knights. The junior from Marietta, Ga. has tossed two complete games in his last four starts, the last coming in the 2010 NCAA regional opener against Mercer on June 4.
Game 2: #28 Georgia Tech 9 Rutgers 5
ATLANTA – No. 23 Georgia Tech broke a 4-4 tie with three runs on a pair of singles by Brandon Thomas and Mott Hyde in the fifth inning for a 9-5 win over Rutgers in game two of a double-header Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets (7-4) and the Scarlet Knights (4-4) will conclude the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Because of impending weather in the forecast for Saturday, the Yellow Jackets and the Scarlet Knights played a double-header Friday.
Boston College 13 Bethune-Cookman 12
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman scored seven times in the bottom of the ninth and had the tying run 90 feet away, but the Boston College baseball team held on for a 13-12 win Friday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Heading into the last frame down seven runs, the Wildcats loaded the bases with one out. Alejandro Sanchez drew a walk to force a run in but DJ Leonard popped up for the second out of the inning. Ryan Durrence stepped to the plate and hit a grand slam to make the score 13-10, then Peter O’Brien and Emmanuel Castro followed suit with solo home runs to make it a one-run game.
Boston College Recap
Bethune-Cookman Recap
Game 1: Bryant 3 Virginia Tech 2
Game 2: Virginia Tech 4 Bryant 0
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Marc Zecchino tossed eight scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters as Virginia Tech defeated Bryant University 4-0 to earn a split in a non-conference baseball doubleheader at English Field on Friday. Bryant won the opening game, 3-2, behind the five-hit pitching of Peter Kelich.
Zecchino and reliever Sean McDermott combined on a two-hit shutout as the Hokies moved their overall record to 8-3. Bryant, which got five-hit pitching from four pitchers during the first game, is now 4-4 on the season.
Virginia Tech Recap
Bryant Recap
Canisius 5 Maryland 4
The Canisius College baseball team overcame leaving 12 runners on base and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 win at the University of Maryland on Friday afternoon. The win evens the Griffs’ record at 4-4 on the season and is the first win in program history over a team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
After Maryland took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a two-run homer from Michael Montville, the Griffs cut the lead in half on an RBI groundout from senior Brian Burton in the top of the third. Maryland came back with a run in the bottom of the third to regain the two-run lead. Canisius tied the game in the top of the fourth as Chris Gruarin led off with a single and Drew Pettit was hit by a pitch. After a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Russo moved runners to second and third, the Griffs would get a two-out, two-RBI single from freshman Ryan Coppinger to even the game at 3-3.
Winston Salem, N.C. – Behind a 14-hit barrage and a superb pitching performance from Brian Pendergas tand Chris Pike, the Fordham baseball team posted its seventh straight win with a 5-3 victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Gene Hooks Field in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
With the win, Fordham improves to 7-1 on the year, while Wake Forest falls to 4-5.
Fordham got the offense rolling immediately in the top of the first inning with three runs in the opening frame. Nick Martinez got things going, as he reached on an error, and then immediately scored on an RBI-double by Ryan David. After a pop out, Joe Russo reached on an infield single with David taking third, which was followed by an RBI-single by Brian Kownacki. Ryan Lee followed with the Rams’ third straight hit, which Russo tried to score on, but was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning. Alex Kenny however cashed in with an RBI-single to score Kownacki for a 3-0 lead.
Fordham Recap
Wake Forest Recap
DURHAM, N.C. – Sophomore Chase Bebout pitched seven shutout innings in a 4-0 shutout against La Salle on Friday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Bebout (2-0) pitched seven scoreless innings, scattering five hits with seven strikeouts and only two walks, before turning it over to Dillon Haviland and Ben Grisz. Haviland and Grisz came in and closed down the Explorers as they combined for four strikeouts and up gave no hits through the last two frames. The shutout is the second of the season for Duke and lowers Bebout’s ERA to 0.46 for the season.
