Heels trip Devils

Fleury's bat leads baseball victory

Designated hitter Mark Fleury went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs, and four pitchers combined on a shutout to lift No. 2 North Carolina to a 9-0, series-clinching win over Duke in an ACC baseball game Sunday at Jack Coombs Field in Durham.

The Tar Heels (10-2, 2-1 ACC) outscored the Blue Devils (12-2, 1-2) by an 18-3 margin over the final two games of the series after losing the opener.

The series win was the seventh straight for Carolina against Duke.

ALSO SUNDAY

MORE BASEBALL

KEITH LECLAIR CLASSIC: Justin Bristow gave up two runs on four hits in seven innings to help East Carolina to a 9-3 win over Georgia Southern in the final game of the fifth annual tournament inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville.

The Pirates (8-4) extended their winning streak to seven games.

For Georgia Southern (6-6), Andy Moye took the loss.

For ECU, Dustin Harrington went 2-for-3, Trent Whitehead was 2-for-4, and Jamie Ray was 2-for-4. Ray and Austin Homan (1-for-2) each drove in two runs.

ST. AUGUSTINE'S 14-10, LINCOLN (PA.) 4-0: The Falcons swept the Lions in a nonconference baseball doubleheader at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary.

The victories pushed the Falcons to 6-5 overall, which matches last year's win total. The Falcons got timely hitting and took advantage of Lincoln miscues to sweep both games.

The Falcons collected 17 hits in two games, and the Lions (0-11) committed 12 errors.

SOFTBALL

N.C. STATE 4, PENN STATE 3 (9): The Wolfpack (13-12) defeated the Nittany Lions (9-6) in nine innings at the USF Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla.

Lindsay Campana (6-10) picked up the win in relief, striking out seven and giving up only one hit in 4 2/3 innings of work. Ashley Esparza (4-4) took the loss.

PEACE 3-13, MARYVILLE 0-5: The Pacers (9-3) swept the Scots in a doubleheader on a windy day in Raleigh. Sophomore Ashley Stansbury pitched a four-hit shutout with eight strikeouts. She also went 4-5 at the plate, including a solo homer in the fourth inning of the first game and a double in the second game.

On Wednesday, two-time Olympic gold medalist Michele Smith will throw out the first pitch at 2 p.m. when Peace hosts Swarthmore in a doubleheader.

LATE SATURDAY

WRESTLING

ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS: At College Park, Md., Maryland won its first conference title since 1973, edging Virginia by two points in the final standings and had five individual champions. North Carolina finished third.

It is the first time a team outside the state of North Carolina has won the title since 1977.

Maryland finished with 86.5 points, followed by Virginia with 84.5, UNC 77, Virginia Tech 40, N.C. State 37.5 and Duke 11.5.

Maryland had six wrestlers in the final, UNC five and Virginia four.

The 149-pound championship featured Maryland's Eric Medina and N.C. State's Darrion Caldwell, the two top seeds in the bracket. Caldwell overpowered the freshman, though, and claimed a 12-2 major decision.

Justin Dobies of North Carolina took a 4-3 win at heavyweight.

The 10 individual champions and four wild cards will go on to represent their schools in the NCAA Championship.

North Carolina junior 165-pounder Keegan Mueller earned one of the ACC's four wild-card berths to the NCAA Championships being held March 20-22 in St. Louis.

Mueller was the league's runner-up at 165 pounds but owns a 28-4 record on the season. He had won 22 straight matches before a 7-2 overtime loss to Virginia Tech's Matt Epperly in Saturday's final.

Sophomore Dennis Drury (20-11), who was second at 197 pounds at the ACC meet, is the league's first alternate.