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North Carolina wins a wild one in 13 innings to advance

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Cody Stubbs.
Cody Stubbs.
North Carolina advances. Up by four runs in the ninth, No. 1 UNC looked to be easily headed to the NCAA super regional. But there was still a lot of baseball, wild baseball to play.

Florida Atlantic came up with six runs, including a two-out grand slam, in the ninth to take an 8-6 lead. The Tar Heels tied it in the bottom of the ninth. A three-run homer by FAU put the visitors up 11-8 in the 12th. But the Tar Heels scratched across three in the bottom of the 12th to tie it at 11. A play at the plate kept the Heels from winning it then.

Florida Atlantic stranded a runner at third in the top of the 13th. After a controversial out call at first where replays showed the Tar Heel was safe to start the bottom of the 13th, a single, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases.

UNC’s Cody Stubbs singled off the left field chalk to score Landon Lassiter with the winning run and a 12-11 victory that sends the Heels into the super regional against South Carolina.

“All these guys care about is winning and they found a way to get it done,” said UNC pitching coach Scott Forbes.

The win came barely a week after North Carolina needed 18 innings to beat rival North Carolina State in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. On this night, the Tar Heels used six pitchers — including regional-game starters Kent Emanuel, Benton Moss and Hobbs Johnson — before reliever Reilly Hovis (4-0) earned the win by striking out Rocklein to end the top of the 13th.

The Tar Heels, 55-9, started the year 39-2 and won the ACC tournament title, but barely avoided suffering consecutive losses for the first time all season. Florida Atlantic edged North Carolina 3-2 on Sunday to force Monday night’s decisive game.

Reliever Michael Sylvestri (4-3) took the loss after allowing three hits and the winning run in 1 1/3 innings.

The game was delayed for two hours due to heavy rain and didn’t wrap up until after 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Boxscore

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No. 1 Tar Heels upset; face elimination Monday

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uncbaseballNo. 1 North Carolina led 2-0 in the seventh and starter Hobbs Johnson was pitching a no hitter. A few batters later, Florida Atlantic took a 3-2 lead on a Ricky Santiago three-run home run off reliever Tervor Kelly. It was the first hit of the game for the Owls, who had only three hits.

The Tar Heels, meanwhile, stranded 16 runners on the night.

The two teams play Monday night at 6 p.m. for the sub-regional championship.

“Well, the good news is we get to play again tomorrow night,” head coach Mike Fox said. “We’re going to focus on that and try to put this one behind us as quickly as we can, and be ready to play tomorrow night.”

Carolina jumped out to a 1-0 edge in the first inning behind three straight singles by Chaz Frank, Landon Lassiter and Colin Moran. The Tar Heels would strand Lassiter and Moran in the first but would continue to threaten against FAU starter Bo Logan.

The Tar Heels stranded a pair of runners in the second and two more in the third before pushing across another run in the fifth. Skye Bolt opened the frame with a double and moved to third base on a single off the bat of Cody Stubbs. Michael Russell lifted a fly ball to shallow center field but Bolt was able to beat throw and put the Tar Heels up 2-0.

Johnson walked the first batter he faced to open the seventh inning and was relieved by Kelley after walking five batters over six-plus innings of no-hit work. Kelley walked the first man he faced but retired the next batter via strikeout. Santiago then hit a 1-1 pitch to left field that cleared the wall for his fifth home run of the year.

Skye Bolt nearly put the Tar Heels in front with two outs in the top of the eighth inning after Colin Moran drew a two-out walk. Bolt lifted a pitch to deep right center field but the right fielder made the catch a step in front of the wall to end the inning.

The Tar Heels were unable to get anything going in the ninth inning as FAU claimed the 3-2 win.

Chaz Frank paced the Tar Heels at the plate with a 4-for-5 effort, while Cody Stubbs and Brian Holberton chipped in two hits apiece.

Senior right-hander Chris Munnelly will take the bump for the Tar Heels Monday night and will likely face FAU right-hander Jeremy Strawn.

Boxscore

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Senay drives in five as Pack wins sub-regional

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TarranSenayNC State senior Tarran Senay drove in five runs, including three on a home run blast, to lead the Wolfpack by William & Mary 9-2 to win the NCAA sub-regional championship.

The Pack put up three runs in the first, 6th and 8th innings to cruise to the regional-clinching victory.

In three games this weekend, NC State allowed just three runs, the fewest the Pack has ever allowed in 26 NCAA Regional appearances. Sunday’s win was the Wolfpack’s 47th of the season, which ranks as the fourth most in school history. State will need to advance to Omaha to match the program record of 49, set in 1993.

For the second year in a row, Senay had a homer and five RBIs in the title game, finishing 2-for-5 with a run scored. All-Region performer Jake Fincher went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI to improve to 59-for-61 on reaching base at least once in games this season. Logan Ratledge went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for his second three-hit outing against the Tribe to make the All-Region team at second base. Trea Turner, Grant Clyde, and Carlos Rodon joined Senay, Fincher, and Ratledge on the All-Region team.

Wolfpack starter Brad Stone (3-2) secured the win with 5 1/3 shutout innings, holding the Tribe to four hits while striking out three. Ryan Wilkins worked the next two innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits. Grant Sasser claimed his eighth save of the year with a perfect 1 2/3 innings to slam the door.

NC State’s pitching staff did not allow a walk for the second game in a row. Over the weekend, Pack pitchers struck out 25 batters while issuing just two walks.

William & Mary starter Matt Wainman (4-4) took the loss on 5 1/3 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on 10 hits. Reliever John Sheehan pitched the final 2 2/3, surrendering three earned on four hits.

The Wolfpack took charge early as Turner and Fincher led off the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back singles to center field. After a fielder’s choice by Brett Austin put runners on the corners, Senay crushed his three-run homer over the right field wall to give the Pack an early 3-0 lead. The home run was his eighth of the season and second of the regional.

Both teams went scoreless for the next four and a half innings, before NC State manufactured three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bryan Adametz and Matt Bergquist hit back-to-back singles with one out to put runners on the corners, before second baseman Logan Ratledge reached on a perfectly executed safety squeeze down the first base line.

With runners on first and second, Fincher legged out an infield single to third base, scoring Bergquist and a hustling Ratledge after an interference ruling on the Tribe’s pitcher, who blocked the third base line to give the Wolfpack a 6-0 advantage.

The Tribe would cut the deficit to five in the top of the seventh on a pair of back-to-back doubles with one out. In the eighth, three Wolfpack fielding errors extended the inning to allow Ryan Brown to score when Ryan Lindemuth reached on a fielder’s choice.

State stretched the lead to 9-2 in the bottom half, started by Ratledge’s two-out double down the left field line and into the visiting bullpen. An intentional walk put Turner aboard, and a double steal put both runners in scoring position. Fincher reached on a dropped third strike to score Ratledge and push Turner to third, then advanced to second on another wild pitch. Austin walked to load the bases, setting up Senay’s two-RBI single to left center.

NC State returns to action next weekend for the Super Regionals against the winner of the Eugene Regional.

Boxscore

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South Meck rallies to defeat Fuquay-Varina for state 4-A baseball title

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fuquaySouth Mecklenburg rallied from a 4-0 deficit with seven unanswered runs to take a 7-4 victory in the third and decisive game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium.

Brooks Kennedy, Michael Smith and Luke Miller each had two hits in the Sabres 11-hit attack.

Earl Oliver of South Mecklenburg was named the championship series Most Valuable Player. Oliver went the distance on the mound in game two earlier on Saturday, giving up five hits while fanning four and walking two. Fuquay-Varina got a run in the sixth to break a 2-2 deadlock and win the opening game on Friday night, 3-2.

In the decisive game, the Bengals took a 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly by Brett Daniels after a couple of hits, and then pushed three across in the second for a 4-0 lead.

But the Sabres stormed back to tie the game with four runsin the second, with the key blow a two-run single by Michael Smith, and then Max Bazin’s RBI single in the third gave South Meck the lead for good at 5-4.

South added a pair of runs in the fourth on a hit batter, a walk, and singles by Miller and Kennedy.

Austin Wynn went the distance on the mound for South and allowed only one earned run. Daniels got the loss for Fuquay-Varina, although he paced the Bengals offense with three this in three trips. Lucas Scott and Nick Stuart had two hits apiece.

South Mecklenburg, in its fourth trip to the NCHSAA baseball championships, finished 27-7 overall and won its first state baseball title since 1989. The Bengals, who won the 4-A title in 2002, ended 27-6.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Five County Stadium, Zebulon

Class 4-A: Game Three

Fuquay-Varina 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 9 2

South Mecklenburg 0 4 1 2 0 0 x – 7 11 2

WP—Austin Wynn. LP—Brett Daniels.

GAME TWO

SOUTH MECK EVENS 4-A BASEBALL SERIES WITH RALLY IN SEVENTH

ZEBULON— South Mecklenburg pushed across two runs in the bottom of the seventh to rally to nip Fuquay-Varina 2-1 in the second game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium, evening the series.

The decisive game is set for 5 pm today.

Fuquay-Varina scored a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Nick Stuart and led 1-0 on the strength of an outstanding pitching performance by Garrett Suggs. But the Sabres got runners on second and third with no outs in the seventh and the runs were driven in by McKay Wrenn and Alex Wilson to end the game.

Harris Yett was three for three for South Meck.

Earl Oliver went the distance on the mound for South, giving up five hits while fanning four and walking two. Suggs pitched six strong innings for F-V, and Brett Daniels, who came on the seventh, was charged with the loss.

D.J. Burt had two of the Bengals’ five hits.

South Mecklenburg, in its fourth trip to the NCHSAA baseball championships, is now 26-7 overall while the Bengals are 27-5.

Fuquay-Varina got a run in the sixth on Friday night to break a 2-2 deadlock and beat South Meck in the opening game, 3-2.

This is the 97th year for baseball championships in the NCHSAA.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Five County Stadium, Zebulon

Class 4-A: Game Two

Fuquay-Varina 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 5 1

South Mecklenburg 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 – 2 7 1

WP—Earl Oliver. LP—Brett Daniels.

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Emanuel Ks eight to lead Heels into sub-regional finals

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Kent Emanuel.
Kent Emanuel.
Kent Emanuel pitched into the eighth inning, and Michael Russell drove in three runs as No. 1 national seed North Carolina beat Towson 8-5 on Saturday night in the Chapel Hill regional.

The Tar Heels (54-8) led 5-0 in the sixth before the third-seeded Tigers (30-29) rallied with three runs in the eighth off Emanuel. Two of those came on a bases-loaded single by Kurt Wentz, helping the Tigers pull within 7-5 before UNC reliever Trent Thornton forced Brendan Butler to fly out to end the inning.

“I’m sure we are all are excited to win,” UNC head coach Mike Fox said. “Nothing’s easy obviously at this stage of this season. A great pitching performance by Kent and we just kept hanging in there.”

UNC added an insurance run on Skye Bolt’s sacrifice fly in the ninth, then Thornton ended it by forcing Hunter Bennett to fly out for his eighth save of the year.

Emanuel (11-3) struck out eight in 7 2-3 innings, while Towson’s Brandon Gonnella (4-5) allowed 11 hits and seven runs in 7 2-3 innings.

Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the second behind the eighth home run of the year for Cody Stubbs before pushing to the lead to 5-0 by the 6th.

The Tar Heels added a pair of runs in the fourth behind a two-run two-out single by Michael Russell before adding a single run in the fifth on a Chaz Frank sacrifice fly and a Brian Holberton RBI double.

Towson meets Florida Atlantic in an elimination game Sunday with the winner facing North Carolina at 6 p.m.

Boxscore

– News release

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Rodon shuts out W&M to send Pack to sub-regional finals

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carlosrodonStarting pitcher Carlos Rodon spun a complete-game, two-hit shutout while striking out 10 as the top-seeded NC State baseball team defeated William & Mary, 1-0, Saturday evening at Doak Field at Dail Park.

NC State (46-14) set a single-season wins record under the direction of head coach Elliott Avent with victory No. 46 on Saturday. Now in his 17th season at the helm of the Wolfpack, his previous best season was 45-18 in 2003.

Rodon’s 10th strikeout of the evening tied him with Mike Caldwell for second place on NC State’s all-time strikeouts list with 296. He has struck out at least eight batters in 15 of his 16 starts this season and reached double-digit strikeouts for the third-consecutive start and the seventh time in his last 10 starts. Rodon has also allowed just three hits and struck out 33 batters in his last 23 innings pitched.

After singling and eventually being left stranded on third base in the top of the third inning, shortstop Trea Turner doubled to lead off the sixth inning, before right fielder Jake Fincher chopped an infield single to put runners on the corners with no outs.

After Fincher was caught stealing and the next batter went down on strikes, first baseman Tarran Senay was intentionally walked, before third baseman Grant Clyde delivered the game’s only run with a two-out single up the middle to put the Wolfpack ahead, 1-0.

William & Mary starting pitcher John Farrell (11-3) pitched 7 1/3 innings of six-hit ball, allowing just one earned run while walking three and striking out six.

Turner stole his 25th and 26th bases of the season and now has multiple hits in 23 of the 50 games in which he has played this season. He finished the night 2-for-3.

William & Mary will face Ole Miss on Sunday in an elimination game at 1 p.m. The winner will take on the Wolfpack at 6 p.m.

The Wolfpack improves to 9-1 in Regional competition at Doak Field.

Boxscore

– News release

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NC State, UNC each win NCAA baseball tourney openers

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ncaabaseball2The No.1 regional seed NC State baseball team defeated Binghamton, 4-1, in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Baseball Raleigh Regional Friday evening at Doak Field at Dail Park while the NCAA tournament’s overall No. 1 seed North Carolina got by Canisius 6-3 in Chapel Hill at Boshamer Stadium.

NC STATE
Josh Easley took over on the mound with two outs in the fourth inning and went on to pitch 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to secure the victory for the Wolfpack. Easley surrendered just one hit, one walk and no runs in the outing to improve to 6-2 on the season.

Right fielder Jake Fincher got things going for NC State (45-14) in the bottom of the first inning with a one-out single through the left side. Two batters later, first baseman Tarran Senay launched his seventh home run of the season over the right-centerfield wall to give the Wolfpack an early 2-0 lead over the Bearcats.

NC State will take on William & Mary on Saturday at 7 p.m., while Binghamton will face Ole Miss at 2 p.m.

The third-seeded Tribe upended the Rebels, 4-2, in the opening game of the regional on Friday afternoon.

Boxscore

NORTH CAROLINA
Catcher Brian Holberton drove in a pair of runs and Chaz Frank, who had three hits, drove in a run late to help the Heels to the 6-3 win over Canisius. Charlotte freshman Trent Thornton got the Tar Heels out of their biggest jam in the eighth after Canisius loaded the bases with one out in a 4-3 game.

North Carolina will face third-seeded Towson on Saturday at 6 p.m. after second-seeded Florida Atlantic and Canisius meet in an elimination game at 1 p.m.

Boxscore

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RailHawks defeat LA Galaxy in soccer tourney

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railhawksFor the second year in a row, the Carolina RailHawks defeated the LA Galaxy in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Only this year, it was the RailHawks who jumped on the scoreboard first in the 59th minute on a goal from Austin da Luz.

The record crowd of 8,121 at WakeMed Soccer Park erupted once again when the RailHawks doubled their lead in the 61st minute on a goal from Brian Shriver. With the victory, the RailHawks will host Major League Soccer’s Chivas USA in the Fourth Round of the 100th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, June 12 at WakeMed Soccer Park at 7 p.m.

“The boys were focused all week,” said RailHawks head coach Colin Clarke. “We are still disappointed we didn’t go further last year. This Cup means a whole lot to me, the team, and the organization. It’s the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and as someone who worked for Mr. Hunt, and our President worked for Mr. Hunt, this is a very important tournament for us.”

Tickets for the Chivas USA Fourth Round U.S. Open Cup match are currently on-sale as an exclusive presale for RailHawks Season Ticket and Flex Plan Holders. Chivas 3-Packs are also currently on-sale. Individual tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, May 31st at 10:00am. The Fourth Round pairing between the RailHawks and Chivas USA will be a rematch of last year’s Fourth Round matchup, when Chivas USA advanced on a stoppage time penalty kick in front of a crowd of over 7,000 at WakeMed Soccer Park.

After a scoreless first half the RailHawks exploded in the 59th minute and 61st minute on goals from da Luz and Shriver, respectively. RailHawks forward Zack Schilawski recorded the assist on both goals.

The RailHawks return to NASL action on the road this Saturday when they face the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Saturday’s match will be streamed live on www.CarolinaRailHawks.com/live. The RailHawks return to WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday, June 8th when they host league rival Tampa Bay Rowdies. To purchase tickets for the June 8th match call the St. Lawrence Homes Box Office at 919-459-8144 or purchase tickets online through www.CarolinaRailHawks.com.

– News release

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Fuquay baseball goes for state title

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fuquayFuquay-Varina High School will face South Mecklenburg in the 4A State Baseball Championships at Five County Stadium in Zebulon starting Friday night.

The first of the best of three series begins at 8 p.m. with game two set for Saturday at 2 p.m. If needed, game three will be Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $8 while parking is $3.

The Bengals won the Eastern Regional title over Richmond Senior High. Fuquay fell in the first of the three-game series 3-2 on the road but tied the series with an 8-1 whipping at home and took the series back in Richmond County with a 12-0 shellacking over the Raiders. Fuquay had won 17 straight before losing the first game of that series.

South Meck, which won two of three from TC Roberson to advance to the finals, lost four of its first six games back in March but have won 11 of the last 12 games. During that stretch, the Sabres have held opponents to two or fewer runs eight times, including three shutouts.

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Green Hope girls cap perfect season with 4-A title

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greenhopeCary Green Hope capped a perfect season and blanked Cornelius W.A. Hough 2-0 on Saturday afternoon to win the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A women’s soccer championship before a large crowd at Dail Soccer Field at North Carolina State University.

Green Hope avenged a loss in last year’s final, as it was a rematch of last year’s state 4-A title match in which Sarah Moon scored two goals in the final 11 minutes to lift Hough to a 2-1 victory over Green Hope.

Senior forward Alexis Shaffer, who scored the initial goal of the game and had an excellent all-around performance, was named the championship Most Valuable Player.

Green Hope took a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute when Shaffer took the ball down the right side, wheeled back to the left and fired a left-footed shot into the back of the net for her 39th goal of the season. The Falcons had the better of play for most of the first half.

In the second half, as Hough pressed forward in the final minutes, Green Hope junior midfielder Kenley Sigmon found the ball in space, dribbled through a couple of defenders and then buried a shot for the 2-0 margin with 6:34 remaining.

Senior keeper Lisa Armstrong recorded the shutout in goal, with seven saves.

Green Hope completed a perfect 28-0 season and has not lost since its defeat in last year’s state championship game. Hough finished the year 21-3 overall and had a seven-match win streak snapped.

Hough was in the finals for the second straight year in just the third year of the school’s existence.

The Raleigh Sports Consortium serves as the primary host city partner for the women’s soccer championship, along with the Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

STATE 4-A WOMEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP

Dail Soccer Field, N.C. State University

Cary Green Hope 1 1– 2

Cornelius W.A. Hough 0 0– 0

SCORING

33rd minute GH—Alexis Shaffer (Mo McDonnell)

74th minute GH—Kenley Sigmon