Spring Break
Pirate bats silenced by pair of Tar Heel aces
ECU falls one step shy of College World Series
Jared Jackson, Staff Writer
Issue date: 6/10/09 Section: Sports
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Upon entering the series, the Pirates were No.13 in the country with a .341 batting average and No. 20 in scoring, averaging almost nine runs per game.
But almost as soon as White threw out the first pitch for North Carolina on Saturday, it became evident that the ECU bats were in for a tough test. And by the time Warren finished off a masterful weekend for the two UNC starters, it was clear that pitching was the difference in the wide margin of victory between the two teams.
"They (UNC) rolled out two very good arms, and we battled, hit the ball hard at times but we couldn't get runs to fall," ECU senior, first baseman Brandon Henderson, said. "It's disappointing."
The Pirates, who were looking to avoid elimination for a fourth time on Sunday, looked sharp to begin the contest.
ECU lead off each of the first three innings with base runners but to little avail, as the side was retired each time before any damage could be done.
Looking to defeat UNC for a second time this season, after a 4-0 victory in late April, left-handed pitcher, Kevin Brandt, took the mound for the Pirates.
Brandt looked to be a thorn in the Tar Heels side once again, as he struck out three batters in the first two innings, while sitting the side down in order each time. But things would start to unravel for the Fuquay-Varina product in the third.
Garrett Gore singled up the middle for the Tar Heels to begin the third inning. Ben Bunting and Dustin Ackley followed with two walks to load the bases. Kyle Seager then ripped the first pitch of his at bat to center field, which scored two runs.
The sixth inning saw UNC expand its lead for the second day in a row as the Tar Heels added five more runs to build a 7-0 lead.
Brad Mincey replaced the Pirate starter Brandt, after Mark Fleury opened the frame with a double down the right field line.
"I felt like my stuff was working good, but even if you have it, good hitting clubs are going to hit you, and that was a good team," Brandt said, who pitched five innings on the day, allowing six hits and three runs while striking out five.
A pitching change didn't seem to bother the Tar Heel batters as Mike Cavasinni singled up the middle to score Fleury. Designated hitter, Seth Baldwin, beat out a double-play opportunity to score Gore, who had singled earlier in the inning.
Mincey was then replaced by Seth Simmons, whose first batter faced was ACC player-of-the-year Dustin Ackley, who lived up to the hype by blasting a 3-2 slider over the left field wall that also brought in Ben Bunting and Baldwin.
"There's a reason he's one of the best hitters in college baseball," ECU head coach Billy Godwin said of the Ackley, a consensus top 5 pick in this week's Major League Baseball's draft. "It was a great job hitting against a very good pitcher."
The Tar Heels added two more runs in the contest on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning by Baldwin and a ninth inning homerun by Gore that nailed the middle of the batters eye in dead center on the fly.
The Pirates three runs came in the eighth.
After Austin Homan, Trent Whitehead and Ryan Wood loaded the bases with singles to begin the inning, Kyle Roller grounded out to second base that scored Homan. Henderson then singled to the right side to bring in Wood and Whitehead.
Warren, a New Bern native, picked up the win for UNC in going 7 1/3 innings while allowing three runs and eight hits while also striking out eight.
On Saturday, it was the White show, as the Greenville product struck out a career high 12 batters on his way to becoming UNC's all-time winningest post-season pitcher with his sixth NCAA Tournament win in the Tar Heels 9-3 victory.
The Pirates struck first in the game when Brandon Henderson sent a solo homerun over the left field wall to lead off the second inning to give ECU a 1-0 advantage.
There would be little for the ECU fans that made the trip to Chapel Hill to cheer for after that, as UNC took the lead for good in the bottom of the third.
A Baldwin single to left field scored Cavasinni, who had doubled earlier in the frame. Bunting added another run for UNC when Seager also singled to left to push the Tar Heels ahead 2-1.
Any hopes of an ECU comeback was thwarted in the sixth inning when UNC tacked on seven runs to gain firm control of the contest.
A Gore single to right field brought in Levi Michael and Ryan Graepel, who singled and doubled to begin the inning. The lead continued to grow when Baldwin hit a sure double-play ball that was mishandled by Wood and allowed Gore to come home as well as advance base runners to second and third.
ECU ace, Seth Maness, (9-3) was promptly replaced by reliever Patrick Summers, ending his day after five innings of work and allowing 13 hits and six earned runs while striking out none.
"It's part of the game. You make good pitches and sometimes they get hit," Maness said, who finished 9-3 on the season after suffering his third straight defeat. "They strung them together well and it paid off. They scored and they had that big inning in the sixth. I was making good pitches, they were just putting them in play."
Just like in game two, a pitching change didn't seem to bother the Tar Heel batters as Cavasinni scored on a sacrifice fly by Ackley and a Fleury single brought in Baldwin. The scoring ended with a Michael single down the right field line that brought in Fleury and Bunting to inflate the UNC lead to 9-1.
The Tar Heels added to the Pirates woes once more in eighth frame when Seager homered to deep right field.
It was no doubt a frustrating experience for ECU, who was outscored 19-4 during the series. Obviously, the difference came down to the Tar Heels pitching being more effective than the Pirates, and Godwin says his team must become better in the all-important arms race that is college baseball.
"You see how important those guys are that went out there for North Carolina," Godwin said. "We have to keep grinding and keep putting a quality product on the mound."
This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.
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