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Bulldogs top Tar Heels 5-3
North Carolina to play CWS elimination game against LSU on Thursday
AP Photo
Fresno State’s Danny Muno avoids the tag of Tim Federowicz of North Carolina.
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Published: June 18, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. - Alan Ahmady hit the go-ahead single in the fifth inning, five pitchers combined to hold North Carolina scoreless for all but one inning and upstart Fresno State continued to surprise last night with a 5-3 victory in the College World Series.
The Bulldogs (44-29), the first No. 4 regional seed to reach the CWS, have won two straight in Omaha to take control of Bracket 2. They need one more win to reach the best-of-three championship round that is scheduled to start next Monday.
North Carolina (52-13), the No. 2 national seed, will meet LSU in an elimination game Thursday, with the winner facing Fresno State on Friday. If the Bulldogs lose, they'll play the same opponent Saturday in an elimination game.
The Bulldogs, who opened the CWS with a 17-5 win over Rice, knocked out starter Adam Warren of the Tar Heels (9-2) in the fifth after opening the inning with three straight singles. Brian Moran came on and gave up Ahmady's two-run single that gave Fresno State a 4-3 lead.
Ryan Overland homered leading off the second inning, marking the first time that North Carolina had trailed in a game since the fifth inning of its regional opener against UNC Wilmington.
The Tar Heels went up 3-1 in the third on three run-scoring hits: a triple by Tim Fedroff, double by Kyle Seager and single by Chad Flack.
Steve Susdorf hit the Bulldogs' second homer of the game -- and sixth of the CWS -- to pull Fresno State to a run behind at 3-2 in the fourth. Then, Ahmady delivered his bases-loaded hit against Moran in the fifth.
Rob Wooten, North Carolina's closer, allowed one run on three hits the rest of the way, including Erik Wetzel's RBI single in the eighth for Fresno's final run.
Fresno starter Justin Miller pitched four innings, allowing all three runs on seven hits. Jason Breckley (3-2), the third pitcher, pitched just a third of an inning to get the win. Brandon Burke allowed one hit in 11/3 innings for his 13th save.
North Carolina had 11 hits, but left runners in scoring position in three of the last five innings.
Danny Muno reached base five times for Fresno on three singles, a walk. He also was hit by a pitch. Wetzel went 3 for 5.
Note: Good defense has been a key in North Carolina's run to its third straight appearance in the College World Series.
The second-seeded Tar Heels had been 6-0 in the postseason entering their game last night.
"You look at our record and we're not a .500 club when we make two errors or more," Coach Mike Fox said.
North Carolina is 25-1 this year in games where it committed no errors, 18-3 in games with one error, and 9-8 in games with two or more errors.
The Tar Heels, national runners-up to Oregon State the past two years, played errorless ball and parceled out 17 hits in an 8-4 first-round win over LSU.
"The guys get tired of hearing how defense is the most important part of the team," Fox said. "And down the stretch here, knock on wood, we've played pretty good defense." North Carolina is making its seventh trip to Omaha. It is 11-13 overall in CWS appearances and 9-5 the past three years.
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