April 7, 2009
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
North Carolina right-hander Patrick Johnson carried a no-hitter into the seventh against hard-hitting East Carolina, and the No. 2 Tar Heels held off a late rally for a 3-1 win over the No. 14 Pirates Tuesday at Boshamer Stadium. With the victory, Carolina (25-7) extended its current winning streak to nine over ECU (25-6).
Johnson (2-0) was masterful against the Pirates, who entered the night eighth nationally with a .361 team average. Over a career-best 6 1/3 innings, the Conover, N.C., native struck out a career-high 11, walked three and allowed just the one base hit in the seventh. He retired six of the final seven batters he faced via the strikeout and fanned two or more in four separate frames.
Four relievers combined to allow just one run the rest of the way, and lefty Logan Munson earned his first career save by picking up all three outs in the ninth. Carolina finished with 15 strikeouts on the night and held the Pirates to just four hits.
Kyle Seager went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and fellow All-America Dustin Ackley added two hits for Carolina, which improved to 8-4 versus nationally-ranked teams this season.
ECU left-hander Patrick Somers (2-2) was also sharp, allowing just two unearned runs over six innings. He scattered five hits and four walks, while striking out four. He allowed two runs in the third, but kept the Tar Heels off the scoreboard for the rest of his outing.
The Pirates committed a pair of outfield errors in the third, and Carolina took full advantage to grab a 2-0 lead. Garrett Gore started a two-out rally with a single through the left side and scored when right fielder Devin Harris misplayed a fly ball off the bat of Ackley, who advanced to second on the error.
Following an intentional walk to Levi Michael with first base open, Seager singled to center and took second on a Trent Whitehead throwing error to drive in Ackley with the second run of the inning.
From there, Johnson and Somers put up matching zeros until the seventh. Harris broke up the no-hit bid and ended Johnson's night with a single to left with one out in the top of inning. Colin Bates, who struck out three over 1 1/3 shutout innings, entered, issued a two-out walk to Austin Homan, and Dustin Harrington hit a long fly ball to right that Gore tracked down in the corner to end the threat.
Carolina added a third unearned run for insurance in the seventh. Gore reached on a throwing error Harrington and scored on Seager's second run-scoring hit of the evening, a bloop single to left field.
After Garrett Davis stranded runners on the corners in the eighth, ECU ended the shutout bid in the ninth when Harris walked and scored on an RBI single from Harrington. Pinch-runner Cameron Freeman overran second base on the play and was thrown out for the first out in the ninth. Munson then induced a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Whitehead to end the game.
The Tar Heels are back in action Wednesday against Richmond at 6 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.
