April 4, 2008

Box Score

CARY, N.C. - North Carolina right-hander Alex White held No. 14 Georgia Tech to five hits over seven shutout innings, and shortstop Garrett Gore matched a season high with three RBI to pace the No. 3 Tar Heels to an 8-1 win Friday at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex. Carolina (24-5, 9-3 ACC) scored five times in the sixth inning to break open the contest and snap a seven-game winning streak for the Yellow Jackets (24-6, 8-5 ACC).

White, who fanned eight and walked just one, improved to 5-2 with his second straight victory. He struck out the side in the seventh before relievers Rob Catapano and Rob Wooten combined for five Ks over the final two innings to give the Carolina pitching staff its third straight game with at least 13 strikeouts.

Tech lefty David Duncan (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season after allowing six runs on nine hits and five walks over 5 2/3 innings.

Gore, who was 2-for-5 with an RBI single in the third and a two-run double in the sixth, was one of four Tar Heels with two hits on the night. First baseman Dustin Ackley was 2-for-3 with his fifth home run, and right fielder Tim Fedroff and catcher Tim Federowicz chipped in with two hits and two runs scored apiece.

Second baseman Kyle Seager singled in the fifth inning to push his career-best hitting streak to 25 games, which equals the fifth-longest streak in school history. Additionally, third baseman Chad Flack singled in the sixth to move within three base hits of the Tar Heels' career record.

Right fielder Charlie Blackmon and three of the Jackets' six hits, including a solo home run in the eighth inning, which accounted for Tech's lone run.

UNC tallied single runs in each of their first three trips to the plate to grab an early lead against Duncan. Ackley led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run to right and followed with an RBI single in the second. Federowicz doubled to left center and took third on a Ryan Graepel groundout before Ackley went the other way with a single to left to drive in his second run of the night.

Fedroff tripled to right center on the first pitch he saw in the third and scored on a single through the left side by Gore for a 3-0 UNC lead. The Tar Heels had the bases loaded with just one out but left them open, squandering a chance to break the game open in the third.

Neither team managed much in the way of offense until Carolina put the game away with its five-run sixth. Federowicz doubled and scored for the second time when left fielder Kyle Shelton sent a chopper through the left side to start the two-out scoring rally. After a Fedroff single ended the day for Duncan, Flack came through with an RBI single through the left side off reliever Andrew Robinson to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

Tech first baseman Tony Plagman prolonged the inning when he misplayed a grounder off the bat of Seager, allowing Fedroff to score all the way from second. Gore followed a walk to center fielder Seth Williams with a ground-rule double over the wall in center field to plate two runs and close the scoring for the Tar Heels.

With his eight strikeouts Friday, White has fanned 19 batters in his last two games and has registered at least six strikeouts in five of his six starts this season. The Greenville native owns a team-high 43 strikeouts to lead a staff that has 305 on the year to just 102 walks.

The series continues with games scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.