May 23, 2008
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Wake Forest senior Charlie Mellies ended his collegiate career with his third straight complete game on Friday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. However, his efforts were not enough as the Demon Deacon bats fell silent in a 2-0 shutout at the hands of No. 1-ranked North Carolina at the 2008 ACC Baseball Championship. With the loss, the seventh-seeded Deacons fall to 24-31 on the season. The third-seeded Tar Heels improve to 46-11 with their first win at the 2008 ACC Tournament. In a rematch of last season's ACC Tournament title game, North Carolina freshman Matt Harvey out-dueled Mellies to eliminate Wake Forest from contention for Sunday's championship contest. By virtue of UNC's win, Virginia wrapped up the Division `B' title and will play the winner of the `A' bracket in the championship game at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Mellies (4-6) did everything he could to keep the Deacs alive in the Tournament. The righthander allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits. Both of Carolina's runs came with two outs. Mellies struck out four and did not walk a batter on the night. He needed just 104 pitches to complete the nine innings of work. It was Mellies' third straight complete game and the fourth time this season he has pitched nine innings. Over his last four starts, Mellies has given up just two earned runs in 32 innings pitched. He allowed one run in a complete game against Duke on May 10, threw a complete shutout at Boston College on May 16 and finished his collegiate career with tonight's performance against North Carolina. In seven of his 14 starts in 2008, Mellies allowed one earned run or less. On Friday, Mellies held UNC scoreless over the first five innings, allowing just three Tar Heels to reach base. Only one of the three, Tim Fedroff with a two-out double in the first, reached scoring position. However, Carolina finally got to Mellies in the sixth when Fedroff hit a two-out solo home run. Fedroff pulled a 1-2 offering to right for his 12th homer of the season.
The Tar Heels then added an unearned insurance run with two outs in the eighth. Dustin Ackley singled with two outs and then advanced to third when Kyle Shelton reached on an error. Ackley came in to score on a wild pitch from Mellies to give UNC a 2-0 advantage. The lead stood up, as the Deacon bats could not solve Harvey. Wake Forest finished the night with just two base hits, getting singles from Andy Goff and Tyler Smith. Not one Deacon runner reached scoring position all night. Wake had the leadoff man on in the third and seventh innings but could not move him along on either occasion. Goff extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games with a single in the third inning. Mike Murray had his 13-game hitting streak snapped, going 0-for-4. It was Murray's first hitless game since April 23 and only the second in his last 28 games. Harvey (7-2) pitched eight shutout innings, striking out a career-high 13 batters, to earn the victory. He walked just one before giving way to Rob Wooten to start the ninth. Wooten got the first out of the ninth, and then UNC went to lefty Brian Moran. Moran recorded the final two outs of the game to pick up his second save of the season. Ackley and Fedroff had two hits apiece to lead the Tar Heels at the plate. North Carolina was eliminated from title game contention prior to Friday's contest with Wake Forest. Virginia's 5-3 defeat of Florida State sealed the Tar Heels fate. Wake Forest will wrap up its season on Saturday against Virginia. RHP Brad Kledzik (2-5, 8.32) will start on the mound for the Deacons. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. |
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