BY UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
CHAPEL HILL --- Tyler Lynn's infield single in the 10th was the game winner as No. 3 North Carolina completed a sweep of No. 3 Clemson with a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. Lynn had three hits and drove in all three runs to make a winner of Josh Hiatt, who tossed 2.2 hitless and scoreless innings on a day when the UNC bullpen went seven shutout frames.
Clemson (34-11, 16-8 ACC) led for the third straight day thanks to Chris Williams' two-run homer off Jason Morgan in the first. That, however, would be all for the Tigers thanks to the standout pitching of Morgan and three Tar Heel relievers.
Carolina (36-9, 19-5 ACC) tied the game with unearned runs in the fourth and sixth against Tiger starter Pat Krall. Krall allowed just five hits over eight innings, but an RBI groundout by Lynn in the fourth and a first-pitch single by the senior outfielder in the sixth evened the score at 2.
Brett Daniels pitched around four hits over three scoreless innings before handing the ball to Rodney Hutchison Jr. to start the seventh. Hutchison retired all four batters he faced, bridging the gap to Hiatt, who entered with one gone in the eighth to face Clemson All-American Seth Beer. Hiatt (2-1) got Beer to fly out and only a hit by pitch in the 10th kept the Tar Heel closer from being perfect over 2.2 innings.
Jeremy Beasley (1-1) stranded the winning run on second in the ninth but left with two on and one out in the 10th. Ashton McGee led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice before Brandon Riley was intentionally walked. Tyler Jackson got the second out of the inning before Clemson went to lefty Alex Schnell to face Lynn.
Lynn, who hit. 429 for the week and now leads Carolina with a .338 average in league games, came through with his third hit of the day on a squib out to second. Clemson's Jordan Greene could not make a play at first and the Tar Heel dugout emptied to mob Lynn and celebrate a third ACC sweep.
The win Sunday puts the Tar Heels five games up on second-place Virginia in the Coastal with two weekends left in conference play. At 19-5, Carolina is also a half-game up on Louisville (17-4) for the best record in the league.
UNC is back in action Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. against Richmond before breaking for final exams. The Tar Heels' next conference series is May 12-14 at Virginia Tech.
Box Score (PDF) | GoHeels Photo Album I | GoHeels Photo Album II
