College Sports
Email
Print
White pitches Tar Heels to 8-4 victory over Tigers
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 16, 2008
OMAHA, Neb.
Alex White kept LSU's potent offense mostly under wraps for seven-plus innings, and Kyle Seager, Seth Williams and Ryan Graepel had three hits apiece to lead North Carolina to an 8-4 victory in the College World Series last night.
White gave up home runs to Michael Hollander and Matt Clark leading off the first and second innings, then allowed two singles the rest of the way.
The Tar Heels (52-12), the national runner-up the past two years, advanced to a Tuesday night game against upstart Fresno State, which stunned Rice 17-5 in the afternoon. The Tigers (48-18-1), beaten for the second time in 27 games since April 22, will play Rice in a Bracket 2 elimination game on Tuesday.
There was nothing fancy about North Carolina's performance. All but two of its 17 hits were singles. The Tar Heels scored in a variety of ways -- a wild pitch, a walk, a groundout and a sacrifice fly.
White (11-3), who has worked at least seven innings in four straight starts, left after Hollander reached on a bunt single to start the eighth. That is when LSU threatened to come back, loading the bases against reliever Brian Moran.
But the Tar Heels survived, thanks to a favorable call by the first-base umpire.
After Micah Gibbs singled to pull the Tigers to five runs behind, the bases remained loaded. But Clark, who hit his nation-leading 27th homer in the second, struck out after Moran threw him a 66-mph change-up and 69-mph breaking ball.
UNC then caught a big break to complete an inning-ending double play on Leon Landry's chopper up the middle. Graepel, the Tar Heels' shortstop, picked up the ball as he swiped second base with his foot, and then relayed the ball to stretching first baseman Dustin Ackley. Umpire Jack Cox called Landry out. Television replays indicated that Landry was safe by a step.
Coach Paul Mainieri of LSU argued to no avail, telling Cox, "It wasn't even close."
Rob Wooten picked up his fifth save, giving up two hits in the final 11/3 innings.
The Tar Heels strung together 10 singles against starter Ryan Verdugo (9-4), including three straight on their way to a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first. Verdugo walked in UNC's first run, Seager had an RBI single, and another run scored on a sacrifice fly.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
