May 8, 2011
Final Stats | Season Stats (PDF)
LIKE! Maryland Athletics on Facebook
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
North Carolina freshman third baseman Colin Moran went 4-for-5 with a home run and the 18th-ranked Tar Heels completed a weekend sweep of Maryland by rallying for an 8-4 victory Sunday afternoon.
Trailing 3-2, North Carolina scored four runs - three of them unearned - during a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth that gave them the lead for good. Moran provided insurance with a solo shot over the wall in right-center field in the eighth.
Just as he did Saturday, freshman Michael Montville had helped Maryland overcome a deficit of its own by blasting a home run - this time a two-run shot in the fifth - but the Terps were unable to hold the lead. Tim Kiene also homered, extending his hitting streak to eight games, with a line-drive shot that cleared the fence in right-center field in the second inning.
Montville, Kiene, catcher Alex Ramsay and center fielder Korey Wacker all had two hits and the Terps matched the Tar Heels (37-10, 16-8) with nine hits, but Maryland pitchers also issued nine walks.
North Carolina overcame the early 1-0 hole from Kiene's home run with a pair of runs in the third inning. After the Tar Heels drew two walks, shortstop Levi Michael and Moran came through with consecutive singles to put the first run on the board, and first baseman Jesse Wierzbicki followed with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.
Catcher Alex Ramsay led off with a single two innings later and Montville, who had a three-run home run on Saturday, deposited a 0-1 offering well over the fence in left field to give Maryland the lead and the momentum.
The lead was short lived, however, as consecutive singles by Moran, Wierzbicki and center fielder Ben Bunting plated one run and put runners on the corners. Maryland starting pitcher Brady Kirkpatrick induced Tar Heel catcher Jacob Stallings into hitting a groundball down the third-base line that should have ended the inning, but didn't.
Third baseman Jake Stinnett's long throw to first skipped in the dirt and Kiene was unable to make a clean pick, allowing Wierzbicki and Bunting to score. Carolina made it 6-3 after Kirkpatrick issued two walks to load the bases and his replacement, right-hander Michael Boyden, hit left fielder Chaz Frank with a pitch.
Kiene, who is hitting .467 (14-for-30) over the course of his eight-game hitting streak, made it 6-4with a run-scoring double to deep right field in the sixth, but the Terps (20-32, 5-22) could get no closer.
In addition to Moran's homer in the eighth, the Tar Heels added a run when Wierzbicki reached on an error and later scored on a sacrifice fly.
North Carolina starting pitcher Chris Munnelly (5-3) tossed 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven and allowing four runs on six hits, to earn the win. Kirkpatrick (2-4) surrendered six runs, three of them earned, on six hits and six walks while striking out two in the loss.
Maryland plays its final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday, when it travels to face Delaware at 3 p.m.
