Diamond 'Dogs Fall, 7-2, To North Carolina Tuesday
May 14, 2014 | Baseball
SHELBY, N.C. - Skye Bolt went 4-for-4 with a two-run home run to lead North Carolina to a 7-2 win over Gardner-Webb Tuesday night in front of a near sellout crowd at Keeter Stadium.
A near sellout crowd of 4,327 saw the Tar Heels (31-21) score two runs in the first, two more in the third and two in the ninth to spark the win. Gardner-Webb (23-27) managed 10 hits in the game, but stranded 11 runners and batted just 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
The Tar Heels pushed across two runs in the top of the first, powered by back-to-back doubles from Michael Russell and Parks Jordan to lead off the game - staking the visitors to a 1-0 lead after just four pitches.
Gardner-Webb starter Jeremy Walker fanned Landon Lassiter to record the first out, but Skye Bolt singled sharply to right to put men on the corners. Walker got ahead of Tyler Ramirez with two quick strikes, but Ramirez hammered a 1-2 pitch to right to plate Jordan for a 2-0 lead.
North Carolina went up 4-0 in the third, getting a single from Lassiter and a towering, two-run home run to right center from Bolt to account for the damage.
Bolt struck again in the fifth, leading off with a single, swiping second base and scoring on another RBI single from Ramirez for a 5-0 lead. The Tar Heels added two more runs in the top of the ninth to put the game away.
Gardner-Webb finally got on the board in the bottom of the ninth after a leadoff double to right center from Henry Rundio and a long double off the wall in left center from JJ Nazzaro to trim the lead to 7-1. After Nazzaro moved to third on a wild pitch, Tyler Best drove him home with a groundout to third for a 7-2 score.
Righty Taylore Cherry (2-2) picked up the mound win for North Carolina, pitching 6.0 scoreless innings and scattering six hits. Trevor Kelley came on to pitch the final 3.0 innings for his second save of the season.
North Carolina rapped out 16 hits in the game, paced by Bolt, Ramirez (3-for-5, 2 RBI), Wood Myers (2-for-5, RBI) and Lassiter (2-for-5, 2 runs, RBI).
"I thought we came out and played a clean game, we just couldn't get runs across," said Gardner-Webb head coach Rusty Stroupe. "[Taylore} Cherry pitched well for them. We kept ourselves in the game and I thought [Scott] Johnson and [Ryan] Hodge had some of the best defensive plays I've seen. It was a great atmosphere again this year."
Walker (3-2) was the pitcher of record for Gardner-Webb, allowing four runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings of work.
The Runnin' Bulldogs had 10 hits in the game, with Nazzaro (2-for-5, 2B, RBI), Hodge (2-for-3) and Rundio (2-for-2, 2B, run) leading that charge.
Gardner-Webb will attempt to clinch a spot in the 2014 Big South Conference when it begins a key, three-game league series at Presbyterian on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3:00 pm from Clinton, S.C.
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