Heels prevail on 10th-inning single

From electronic and staff reports
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Down to its last out in the bottom of the 10th, North Carolina came up with a walk and two singles to bring an end to a scoreless marathon in a 1-0 victory over East Carolina Wednesday night at Boshamer Stadium.

Chaz Frank's seeing-eye, walk-off single up the middle drove in Mike Zolk to bring across the run that had eluded both teams on an evening dominated by pitchers. Zolk had advance to third on a single through the right side by Parks Jordan.

Starters Kent Emanuel for North Carolina and Jeff Hoffman for the Pirates each put in lengthy stints before giving way to their respective bullpens.

Emanuel, a sophomore lefthander, lasted 8 1/3 shutout innings, struck out seven and limited East Carolina four hits and no walks. Junior righthander Michael Morin (5-3) took over from there and got credit for the win after pitching out of jams in the 8th, 9th and 10th.

Junior southpaw Tyler Joyner relieved Hoffman for the Pirates and pitched a perfect inning before turning over the pitching chores to Tanner Merritt. A sophomore righty, Merritt retired the Heels in order in the 9th and entice the first two batters into groundouts in the 10th before issuing the walk to Zolk that was eventually transformed into the winning run.

When Zolk walked, he became the first Tar Heels batter to reach base since Michael Russell walked to lead off the 6th.

East Carolina threatened in each of the final three innings. Runners were stranded on third in the 8th and 10th. In the 9th, senior Tim Younger reached on an infield single and moved to second on a walk to junior John Wooten. When senior Zach Wright followed by beating a throw to first on an infield hopper, Younger was cut down at the plate after trying to stretch his advance from third to home.

The Pirates will host a rematch with North Carolina on Wednesday, May 9.

East Carolina now turn its focus to conference action with a weekend series at home against Tulane. Matchups are set for Friday (6 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (11:30 a.m.)

PAGE UPDATED 04/26/12 02:08 AM.

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