June 6, 2010
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NORMAN, OKLA. --- A two out Eric Ross double gave Oklahoma a 7-6 extra inning victory over North Carolina Saturday night in game four of the Norman Regional at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Carolina rallied to score three runs in the ninth, but falls to 37-21 and will face elimination tomorrow.
Reliever Greg Holt (3-4) suffers the loss allowing the go-ahead run on two hits in two frames of work. Starter Patrick Johnson allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out five in 4.1 innings of work.
Colin Bates pitched 3.1 innings of relief, rendering one run on three hits and fanning four. Zach Bernard gave up one unearned run in a third of an inning of work.
Offensively Ryan Graepel and Brian Goodwin paced Carolina with two RBI apiece. Goodwin notched his eighth triple of the season to knot the score in the ninth and to tie the single season school record that has stood since 1949. Jacob Stallings added two hits and Ben Bunting notched a hit and RBI.
Sooner starter Zach Dean struck out ten Tar Heels in eight strong innings of work. Ryan Duke suffered his first blow save of the season, but earned the win closing out the game in the tenth.
Carolina stranded a pair of base runners at third in the first two innings, failing to manufacture a run. Johnson kept the Oklahoma batters off balance early recording four of his first six outs via the strikeout.
The Sooners broke a scoreless tie in the third with a well-executed safety squeeze bunt off the bat of Chris Ellison. Johnson issued a walk to Ricky Eisenberg, who later crossed the plate on the sacrifice bunt to push the Sooners in front 1-0.
Oklahoma tacked on another run in the fourth after a solo home run from Tyler Ogle. The Sooners led 2-0 after four frames as Carolina registered just one hit.
Oklahoma continued their scoring ways manufacturing two runs on three hits in the fifth. Neal stymied the UNC hitters, facing the minimum from the third to the fifth frames notching five strikeouts.
The Tar Heels finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth scoring two runs on three hits. Stallings and Mike Cavasinni registered back-to-back singles, but Neal quickly registered a pair of strikeouts. Graepel then delivered a two-out two RBI single up the middle to slice the Sooner lead in half at 4-2.
Oklahoma responded immediately in the seventh with a leadoff home run off the bat of Garrett Buechele. Bates settled in to retire three Sooners as Carolina trailed 5-2 at the stretch.
Carolina chipped away at the Sooner lead scoring one run on a pair of hits in the eighth. Goodwin ripped a double down the left field line and Bunting singled the freshman home with two outs to cut the Oklahoma lead to 5-3 after eight innings of play.
The Sooners tacked on another run in the top of the ninth to extend their lead to 6-3. Carolina stormed back to knot the score at six in the bottom of the ninth. Levi Michael parachuted a RBI double down the left field line to plate one Tar Heel. Goodwin then laced a two-strike two-out triple to score a pair of Tar Heels and knot the score at six.
Ross registered just his second extra base hit of the season with his double in the tenth to relinquish the lead for Oklahoma at 7-6. Carolina got the leadoff batter on in the bottom of the frame, but Duke wriggled out of the inning to seal the win for the Sooners.
The Tar Heels fall to 2-3 in extra inning contests this season. Carolina will now face Oral Roberts at 2 p.m. tomorrow in an elimination game. The Golden Eagles eliminated California in game three of the Norman Regional earlier Saturday. The winner of the Tar Heels and Golden Eagles will challenge the Sooners at 8 p.m. tomorrow, and must defeat Oklahoma twice for the right to advance to the super regionals.
