BASEBALL: UNC takes series

For the first time since 2006, North Carolina has claimed a regular season series over Virginia.
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, the series-clinching setback came with another contest looming.
Second-ranked North Carolina rallied in the middle of the game — again — and used a career-best performance from reliever Rob Wooten to upend Virginia, 5-2, at Davenport Field.
The Cavaliers (33-17, 13-13 ACC) failed to register a timely hit, a recurring trend against the league’s elite. A night after stranding 10 on base and seven in scoring position, UVa registered just one hit in 11 at-bats with runners on second or third.
“We just didn’t come through,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “That’s the bottom line and that’s the case in the last couple of games. We just haven’t been able to get those clutch hits.
“We will though. It will come our way.”
Four of the nine runners that Virginia left stranded came in the first three innings when UNC starter Adam Warren appeared vulnerable on the mound.
In the second inning after designated hitter Phil Gosselin gave Virginia a 1-0 lead with an RBI single, the rookie stole second but was left there as three straight batters struck out swinging.
North Carolina tied the contest in the third inning after Virginia starter Pat McAnaney, who had escaped trouble earlier, gave up a two-out homer to Kyle Shelton that cleared the bleacher seats in left field. McAnaney, who pitched 4.2 innings and was charged with all five runs, screamed in disgust after the blast.
“To be honest, that was the one time in the game where I felt like I was settling down,” McAnaney said. “I had a couple of good pitches and I thought I got the pitch in and a little up and [Shelton] just put a great swing on it and crushed it.
“It was a solo home run and I was made, but one run isn’t the end of the world.”
Virginia had runners on the corners in the third inning with one out, but left fielder Dan Grovatt hit a shallow fly ball to left and Jeremy Farrell fanned swinging on a 3-2 pitch.
After McAnaney lost the lead by allowing two more runs in the fourth inning, Virginia scratched for a run after catcher Franco Valdes doubled and later scored on a ground out by Jarrett Packer.
McAnaney said he felt the momentum changing after Virginia had closed the margin to a run, at 3-2, but it quickly changed during the fifth as he was chased from the contest after retiring two of the first three batters that he faced.
Once again, it was one of the more unassuming offensive heroes for the Tar Heels that provided the biggest damage — second baseman Kyle Seager slapped a one-run triple into the corner in right field.
“We still had a chance in the fifth and I think I was one pitch away,” McAnaney said. “If I had kept it at a 3-2 game it could have changed the rest of the ballgame, but unfortunately I left a pitch pretty much right down the middle to [Seager] and that led to two more runs in that inning.”
The final run in the frame came after Matt Packer entered from the bullpen and gave up a single up the middle to UNC catcher Tim Federowicz.
Virginia appeared primed to counter again in the bottom-half of the fifth inning after David Coleman reached on an error and Greg Miclat walked. The Cavaliers elected to sacrifice the runners into scoring position, which was the final out recorded by Warren, but Farrell and Gosselin struck out against Wooten.
“We have to have a chance to score two runs before we can score three,” said O’Connor, explaining the strategy behind the bunt. “Obviously, coming up behind Grovatt is Farrell and he has been one of most consistent hitters all year.”
Wooten was masterful as he did not allow a hit until pinch hitter Patrick Wingfield laced a single with one out in the ninth.
For the game, Wooten pitched 4.2 innings and struck out seven, both of which were career-best totals.
McAnaney, who tweaked his knee late in his last outing at Miami on April 25, took the loss, falling to 4-3 on the season.
“I felt fine. I felt too good to be honest with you,” the southpaw said. “My leg, that wasn’t even a factor. I just had a hard time locating and that’s a huge part of my game and it came in a game where my team really needed me to give them a good outing.
“I wasn’t able to get into a groove and help them out as much as I would have liked to.”
Virginia will look to salvage the final game of the series today at 1 p.m. with junior Andrew Carraway on the mound. The Tar Heels are expected to counter with rookie Matt Harvey.