No. 13 North Carolina capped off a three-game series sweep of top-ranked Virginia (44-12, 22-8 ACC) as the Tar Heels (44-12, 20-10 ACC) used a three-run fifth inning en route to a 3-2 win over the Cavaliers Saturday afternoon on senior day at Boshamer Stadium.

Carolina tallied its first sweep of Virginia since 2005 and held the ninth-highest scoring team in the country to just three runs over the weekend series. The Tar Heels delivered a loss to Virginia starter Will Roberts for the first time in his career, as Roberts came into Saturday with a flawless 17-0 mark.

The Tar Heels tallied four hits, including a pair of doubles, in the three-run fifth as Seth Baldwin and Colin Moran came up with the run-producing knocks.

Brian Holberton started things off with a one-out double in the right center field gap and after moving to third on a wild pitch scored when Baldwin rocketed a ball past the second baseman as the infield was drawn in.

A single by Chaz Frank put runners on the corners and Frank moved to second with his ninth steal of the year putting two runners in scoring position for Moran. The Cavaliers went to the bullpen and brought in left-hander Kyle Crockett to face Moran.

The freshman was facing a 2-2 count when he went with a pitch and sliced it down the left field line, just inside the line and into the corner for a two-run double giving the Tar Heels a 3-1 lead.

After allowing one run over his first five innings of work, Chris Munnelly came out with a lead in the sixth and picked up a foul out and a ground out for two quick outs in the frame. A hit by pitch put Kenny Swab on base and a pitch in the dirt allowed Swab the opportunity to move up but Jacob Stallings pounced on the ball and fired to second to get Swab and pick up his 27th caught stealing of the year.

A lead off walk to open the seventh would end Munnelly’s day as Greg Holt would be summoned from the bullpen.

Holt would allow a walk and a bunt single to Keith Werman to load the bases for the top of the order. Holt was able to get a punch out of John Barr and a ground out by Chris Taylor but the Wahoos were able to push across a run on the second out of the inning, cutting Carolina’s lead to 3-2.

John Hicks turned on the next Holt offering and ripped it down the third base line but Colin Moran was there to corral it and fire to first for the third and final out of the seventh.

The Tar Heels used their traditional mix-and-match pattern in the eighth as Holt picked up a fly ball to center field before left-hander Tate Parrish did the same for out number two.

Freshman Shane Taylor came on and struck out Swab for the final out of the eighth keeping Carolina in front.
Carolina had a chance to add to its lead in the bottom half of the eighth when Tommy Coyle doubled off the right field wall and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Stallings.

With Ben Bunting at the plate Carolina attempted a safety squeeze but the Justin Thompson offering was in the dirt and the Cavaliers were able cut down the charging Coyle to stop the rally.

Closer Michael Morin was called upon for the ninth inning looking for his eighth save of the year and second of the weekend.

Morin allowed a single to right field to open the inning before buckling down and getting a fly out to right field for the first out and then struck out pinch hitter Shane Halley.

Pinch runner Mitchell Shifflet would steal second to put the tying run in scoring position but Morin struck out his second consecutive batter to end the game and cap off the series sweep.

Colin Moran equaled a season high with a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the plate and added to his league-leading total of 67 RBI.

Seth Baldwin brought production from the nine-hole for the Tar Heels as he was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a run driven in.

Morin becomes the first closer since Andrew Carignan in 2007 to register at least eight saves as Carignan closed out 18 games for the Tar Heels in the College World Series season.

Next up for the Tar Heels is a trip to Durham for the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament set to run May 25-29 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Carolina will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will be paired with No. 1 Virginia, No. 5 Miami and No. 8 Wake Forest in a pool-play format. Game times and dates will be announced at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

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Freshman left-hander Kent Emanuel withstood the test from No. 1 Virginia (45-8, 22-7 ACC) Friday night and No. 13 Carolina (43-12, 19-10 ACC) picked up a pair of eighth-inning runs to claim a 2-1 victory over the Cavaliers. Carolina’s two and three hitters, Levi Michael and Colin Moran, each drove in a run in the go-ahead eighth inning. The Cavaliers drop a series for the first time all season and the Tar Heels will look for the sweep on Saturday.

Virginia starter Danny Hultzen, a likely first round draft pick in next month’s MLB Draft, was in complete control early setting the side down in order through the first four innings. Hultzen struck out at least two batters in each of the first four frames.

The Tar Heels eventually got to Hultzen in the fifth when Tommy Coyle took a pitch the opposite way for a single to break up the perfect game. Coyle would not advance past first base but the single got things going for the Tar Heels.

Carolina put a pair of runners on in the sixth and moved the lead off man to third in the seventh but were unable to push a run across in either inning.

Senior Ben Bunting opened the bottom of the eighth with a lead off single through the right side and moved up 90 feet when pinch hitter Parks Jordan dropped down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt.

Chaz Frank turned in perhaps the at bat of the night as he battled Hultzen to a full count before drawing a walk. During Frank’s at bat Hultzen was charged with a wild pitch allowing Bunting to move to third and eventually putting runners at the corners for Levi Michael.

After watching the first pitch miss for a ball, Michael lined the next offering to center field and in front of a diving Kenny Swab tying the game at 1-1.

The ACC’s RBI leader, Colin Moran, strolled to the plate next and battled to a 2-2 count before lifting a pitch to right field, just deep enough to plate Frank from third and give Carolina a 2-1 lead.

Michael Morin would come on for the ninth and picked up a fly out and a strikeout swinging before facing John Barr. The Virginia left fielder lifted a ball behind first base that Tommy Coyle was unable to track down allowing Barr to reach second on a double.

Morin used his defense for the final out as John Hicks rifled a ball directly at third baseman Colin Moran who deflected the ball off of his chest and then fired to first for the third and final out as Jesse Wierzbicki scooped the throw to complete the victory.

Freshman Kent Emanuel dueled Hultzen for the first six innings allowing just two hits and one run, while striking out seven batters. Emanuel found himself in a bit of trouble in the second inning when Swab opened the frame with a double to left center.

The Cavaliers played small ball from that point moving Swab to third on a sacrifice bunt and eventually scoring the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly from Reed Gragnani.

Emanuel had to work out of a few jams Friday night as his defense committed three errors behind him but the freshman was able to hold the ACC’s third-best hitting squad to just one run on the night.

Carolina’s pitchers have held Virginia, ranked ninth in the country in scoring, to just one run over 18 innings of work through the opening two games of the series.

Fellow freshman Andrew Smith delivered an inning and a third of scoreless baseball to bridge the gap to the eighth before R.C. Orlan came on to pick up the final two outs of the inning and eventually earn the win, the first of his career.

The series loss for the Cavaliers is their first of the season and Carolina will look for its fifth ACC series sweep of the year on Saturday when right-hander Chris Munnelly will square off against Virginia’s Will Roberts with first pitch set for 2 p.m.

As was expected a pitcher’s duel broke out Thursday evening at Boshamer Stadium as No. 1 Virginia’s (45-7, 22-6 ACC) Cody Winiarski and North Carolina’s (42-12, 18-10 ACC) Patrick Johnson twirled five innings of shutout ball. Winiarksi would be the first to buckle as the Tar Heels exploded for five runs in the sixth inning to take the lead and Patrick Johnson went on to throw the first complete game shutout by a Tar Heel since Alex White in 2009 as he improved to 10-1 on the year.

Johnson also joined Adam Warren as the most recent Tar Heel to post 10 wins in a season as Warren went 10-2 in his senior year for Carolina.

On the night, Johnson allowed just four hits, did not walk a batter and retired nine Wahoos via the strikeout. The nine strikeouts moves Johnson into fifth place in the Carolina career record books with 280.

The Conover, N.C., native retired the side in order in the second inning and finished out the game retiring the last 15 batters he faced.

Each team garnered a single in the very first inning but key defense helped keep the game scoreless as each team turned in a double play.

Virginia looked to have something going in the fourth when John Barr opened the inning with a single to right center but Johnson notched his fourth pick off of the year as he caught Barr flat-footed off of first base.

The Tar Heels were nearly the first team to get a runner to third base in the fourth when Colin Moran drew a one-out walk and Jesse Wierzbicki followed with a single to left center. Moran made his way to third on the play but as he slid to avoid the tag at third base he slid past the base and in his attempt to get back to the bag was tagged out on the play.

Danny Hultzen opened the fifth with another lead off single for the Cavaliers and Virginia proceeded to play small ball using a ground ball to the right side to move Hultzen to second before another ground ball moved him to third base.

Johnson picked up the big punch out to end the fifth as he got Jared King swinging on a 2-2 pitch to end the threat and get the Tar Heels at the plate.

Carolina turned in a similar effort getting a lead off single and back-to-back ground balls to move Jacob Stallings to third but a routine grounder to first would end the threat.

Chaz Frank opened the five-run sixth inning by drawing a walk and used his speed to get to third base on a single off the bat of Levi Michael. The ACC’s RBI leader, Colin Moran, lined a ball at centerfielder Kenny Swab allowing Frank to narrowly score ahead of Swab’s throw home.

An errant pickoff attempt by Winiarski of Michael at first base allowed the shortstop to move into scoring position for Jesse Wierzbicki who lined a ball into left field but the ball was hit too sharply to score Michael.

A sacrifice bunt from Ben Bunting moved Wierzbicki into scoring position and Jacob Stallings was intentionally walked to load the bases for Tommy Coyle.

Coyle hit a high chopper that third baseman Steven Proscia was unable to get a glove on allowing Michael and Wierzbicki to score extending the lead to 4-0.

Greg Holt made it 5-0 with a perfectly placed single through the right side to plate Stallings and give Patrick Johnson all the run support he would need.

Following a lead off single by the Wahoos in the fifth inning, Johnson buckled down and retired the next 15 batters en route to his 10th win of the season.

Jacob Stallings would tack on an insurance run in the eighth when he blasted his third home run of the year and first since March 9 over the left center field fence stretching the lead to 6-0.

Jesse Wierzbicki equaled a career-high with three hits on the night, while Levi Michael, Jacob Stallings and Tommy Coyle all tallied two hits for the Tar Heels.

Carolina will look for the series win on Friday but it will face a difficult task as freshman Kent Emanuel will face Virginia ace Danny Hultzen at 7 p.m. in Boshamer Stadium.

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Playing at Cary’s WakeMed Soccer Park, former UNC player Heather O’Reilly scored a goal and assisted on another as the United States’ women’s soccer team defeated Japan 2-0 in an exhibition match.

More than 5,300 fans watched the final exhibition before the World Cup begins in late July.