No. 2 UNC, Wooten Shut Down No. 24 Virginia Baseball, 5-2

Courtesy: Jim Daves/UVa Media Relations Matt Packer pitched four strong innings Saturday vs. North Carolina.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 24 Virginia baseball team dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 2 North Carolina Saturday night in front of 2,847 fans at Davenport Field.

Virginia’s offense struggled to get untracked all evening, as the Cavaliers were held to five hits by the nation’s top-ranked pitching staff, with only one hit coming after the fourth inning. UVa had its opportunites throughout the game but went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base.

Pat McAnaney (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) pitched 4.2 innings and gave up five earned runs, six hits and three walks with five strikeouts. He drops to 4-3 this season after taking the defeat. Matt Packer (So., Germantown, Tenn.) pitched four scoreless innings out of the bullpen for Virginia (33-17, 13-13 ACC).

North Carolina reliever Rob Wooten (4-1) earned the win after pitching the final 4.2 innings. He came into the game in a two-on, one-out situation in the fifth inning and struck out two UVa batters on seven pitches, then cruised through four more innings and allowed just a ninth-inning pinch-hit single to Patrick Wingfield (Sr., Winchester, Va.). He struck out seven and walked one. UNC starter Adam Warren pitched 4.1 innings, allowing two runs (one earned), four hits and four walks while fanning six.

Virginia started the scoring with a second-inning run. Jeremy Farrell (Jr., Westlake, Ohio) tripled to lead off and scored on a Phil Gosselin (Fr., West Chester, Pa.) single. The Tar Heels (42-8, 20-5) came right back in the third on a two-out solo home run by Kyle Shelton.

North Carolina grabbed the lead with two runs in the third inning on back-to-back sacrifice flies from Kyle Seager and Tim Federowicz.

Virginia got a run back in the fourth inning, as Jarrett Parker (Fr., Stafford, Va.) grounded out to bring home Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.), but UNC countered with two in the next half inning. With two out, Seager tripled to score Chad Flack and knock McAnaney from the game, and Federowicz followed with a single against Packer to plate Seager and give the Heels a 5-2 advantage.

UVa had a golden opportunity to cut into the lead in the fifth inning and put runners on second and third with one out, but Wooten entered the game and struck out the final two batters and dominated the rest of the way.

The final game of the series is at 1 p.m. Sunday.