University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
North Carolina
No. 22 North Carolina Rallies To Beat Richmond
03/31/2010 | Baseball
March 31, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Richmond was not able to hold two leads and fell at No. 22 North Carolina, 17-6, Wednesday night at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. Sophomore Adam McConnell had two hits and senior Evan Stehle drove in three for the Spiders.
The Spiders - playing their fifth of seven teams this season that reached the 2009 NCAA Regionals - led 1-0 in the second and 5-3 in the third before watching the Tar Heels rally for 11-straight and put the game away. UNC, which reached the College World Series in 2009 for an ACC record fourth-consecutive season, improved to 18-9 overall, while Richmond slipped to 12-11.
McConnell has collected five hits over the Heels in two career games, going two-for-four tonight and three-for-five with two runs and an RBI in last season's 12-8 loss when UNC was ranked No. 2.
Junior LF Billy Barber extended his hitting streak to 12 games, scored twice and stole his 10th bag of the year.
The Spiders drew first blood, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning thanks to Stehle's sacrifice fly scored Barber, after Barber led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch and Cameron Brown moved him to third with a double.
UNC pushed three across in the bottom of the frame, but the Spiders grabbed the lead back by scoring four times in the third inning. Robby Massar led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, and scored after McConnell dropped a bunt single and a throw trying to get Massar at third got away. Mergenthaler reached on a fielders' choice, and another UNC error allowed McConnell to score for a 3-3 tie. With the bases loaded later in the frame, Stehle rifled a two-run single back up the middle to give the Spiders 5-3 edge.
Richmond's second lead was also short-lived and North Carolina poured on 11 consecutive runs over the next four innings to put the game away.
The Spiders squandered their biggest opportunity of the night trailing just 6-5 in the top of the fourth and got nothing after loading the bases with no outs and the heart of the order coming up. Reliever Zach Bernard got Mergenthaler swinging and reliever Garrett Davis retired Barber and Brown to preserve the lead.
Davis was credited with the win (3-2), while senior starter Ian Marshall was tagged the loss (1-1).
Richmond is back in action this weekend at Pitt Field, hosting Xavier in an Atlantic 10 series. The Musketeers are the reigning A-10 Tournament champions and played in the 2009 NCAA Regional.
