April 3, 2010

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - No. 22 North Carolina hit three home runs in the first four innings and freshman Brian Goodwin drove in a season-high six runs as the Tar Heels defeated Maryland 11-4 Saturday afternoon.

Maryland pitcher Brett Harman, who entered the game with a 1.16 ERA in conference games and is normally the Terps' Friday starter, was pushed back to Saturday after battling dehydration throughout the week.

After Harman pitched a perfect first inning, North Carolina got home runs from first baseman Matt Wierzbicki in the second inning, Goodwin in the third and designated hitter Seth Baldwin in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.

The Terps responded in the fifth with two runs as David Poutier drew a leadoff walk and Matt Murakami singled through the left side to open the inning. Adam Kolarek, who won Friday's game with a walk-off home run, nearly had his second long-ball in two days. The junior hit a shot to deep center field, but it didn't leave the park, bouncing off the wall for a double. Poutier scored on the play and Murakami made it home on a groundout by Jack Cleary, but it wouldn't be enough.

North Carolina scored five runs in the top of the sixth, aided by Goodwin's three-run triple, to take an 11-2 lead.

Maryland added two runs in the bottom half of the sixth by taking advantage of two North Carolina miscues. Matt Marquis, who went 2-for-4 on the day, doubled down the right field line and scored when Murakami hit a fly ball to right field that Goodwin couldn't handle. Murakami reached second base on the error and with Mike Rozak up to bat, stole third base. Tar Heels catcher Jacob Stallings attempted to gun down Murakami at third, but his throw went into left field, allowing Murakami to score.

Harman (3-4) gave up six earned runs on seven hits in five innings and took the loss for Maryland, which fell to 12-16 and 3-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

North Carolina's Patrick Johnson (3-2) earned the win, giving up two earned runs on five hits in six innings. Michael Morin allowed just one hit over the final three innings and was credited with the save, his third of the year, as North Carolina improved to 19-10 and 3-8 in the ACC.

The Terps will go for a series victory over the Tar Heels on Sunday. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.