Baseball Salvages Series Finale

After losing the first two games of its three-game series with Clemson this past weekend, many Tar Heels said they came into Sunday's game with a chip on their shoulder, an anger they didn't have Friday and Saturday, during losses of 11-7 and 4-2, respectively.

"We just came out here with a little chip, and we were ready to go to war today," said UNC left fielder Sean Farrell.

But when asked to give an example of how that could play out in a start-and-stop, high-concentration game like baseball, Farrell paused. Finally, he came up with an answer -- sort of.

"It's just doing whatever you can in any situation to get the job done," Farrell said. "It's an attitude, I guess."

However you qualify that attitude, it worked Sunday against the Tigers.

The No. 21 Tar Heels rode a seven-run third inning, and superb relief pitching by freshman Carter Harrell to beat top-ranked Clemson 12-5 at Boshamer Stadium.

They also brought a new emotion with them, one that started with their coach.

"I was really kind of stone-cold today," said North Carolina coach Mike Fox. "I didn't say two words to the team today.

"It's all up to them. It's their doing. They're either going to back down and go, 'Oh, gosh,' or they're going to step up."

By the end of the third inning Sunday, it was apparent which road UNC (25-13, 10-5 in the ACC) had chosen. The Tar Heels bounced Clemson starter B.J. LaMura (3-2) from the game after starting the frame with two singles, a hit batsman, a double and another single.

LaMura ended the day with these numbers: two innings pitched, five earned runs, three hit-by-pitches, one wild pitch and one balk.

At least he got someone out. His replacement, Ryan Childs, faced three batters and failed to retire any of them, not that it was entirely his fault.

After allowing a double and a single, Childs faced UNC first baseman Ryan Blake with runners on first and third and the Tar Heels up 5-0. Blake hit a double-play ground ball to short, but Russell Triplett muffed the play, and the Tar Heels scored two more runs in the inning.

"Today we played our worst game of the year," said Clemson coach Jack Leggett, whose team dropped to 30-4, 7-2. "We were sloppy on the mound, we were sloppy on defense, we were sloppy behind the plate. So we got what we deserved today."

But Leggett's Tigers didn't fold. They chased UNC starter Daniel Moore in the fourth shortly after Jeff Baker crushed a Moore delivery for a grand slam, his 13th homer of the year. All of a sudden, it was 7-4.

Harrell (6-3), though, slammed the door shut on the rally. His fastball, which he said he didn't think he had while warming up in the bullpen, was dominating. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, struck out six and allowed just one run.

"We've started him, we've closed him, we've used him every way you can, and he's responded every single time," Fox said.

And the Tar Heels, which are now fourth in the conference, used that performance to avoid getting swept a week after going 1-2 at No. 7 Wake Forest.

"We've still got to keep going," Fox said. "We're not there yet. We've still got to keep going."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.