May 11, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, NC – Reid Fronk drove in three runs, Tim Federowicz collected three hits and Robert Woodard held the Yellow Jackets to three runs over seven innings as No. 4 North Carolina (40-10, 17-8 ACC) stopped No. 24 Georgia Tech (30-19, 14-10 ACC), 10-3, Friday night in the ACC series opener at Cary Boshamer Stadium.
Woodard (8-2) held the Jackets to three runs on eight hits and struck out three to earn his eighth win of the season. .
A first-inning hit by Danny Payne extended his hitting streak to 15 games, and the Yellow Jacket junior led Tech’s offense with a 4-for-5 performance at the plate while also scoring two of the Jackets’ three runs in the game, one of which came on a solo home run in the seventh inning. With his first inning hit, Payne extended his streak of reaching base to 69-straight game appearances, dating back to Mar. 24, 2006.
Federowicz went 3-for-5 to lead the UNC offense while Dustin Ackley, Josh Horton, Chad Flack and Kyle Seager collected two hits apiece for the Tar Heels.
Payne led off the game with a single, moved to third on a single by Patrick Long and scored on Matt Wieters’ sacrifice fly, giving the Jackets a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Tech’s lead was short-lived however, as the Tar Heels exploded for five runs in the bottom of the second inning behind a two-run home run by Josh Horton, a two-run double by Reid Fronk and an RBI single by Dustin Ackley.
A two-run homer by Ackley, his seventh of the season, pushed the Tar Heels’ lead to six runs in the fourth inning before Chris House was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth, moved to third on a single by Brad Feltes and scored when Jason Garofalo hit into a fielder’s choice, making the score 7-2.
A sacrifice fly by Fronk and a two-run single by Seth Williams pushed North Carolina’s lead to eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning before Payne sent his third home run of the season over the right-center field wall to make the score 10-3 in the seventh.
Yellow Jacket starter David Duncan (6-3) cruised through the first inning, but struggled in the next three to take the loss. He gave up seven runs on nine hits in four innings, while his only strikeout came in the bottom of the first inning. The loss was Duncan’s first since Mar. 9, as the Yellow Jacket sophomore had gone 3-0 in his eight appearances since.
The Jackets and Tar Heels continue the series Saturday at 1 p.m. The game can be followed on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv) and on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM/www.wrek.org) while live stats are available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
