College roundup: UNC Tar Heels baseball defeats Gardner-Webb

Tyler Ramirez hit his team-leading third home run of the year in the first inning, and Trevor Kelley combined with Jason Morgan for 8 2/3 innings of relief in North Carolina’s 6-1 win over Gardner-Webb on Wednesday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.

The victory ended a two-game losing streak for the Tar Heels (11-5), ranked 17th by Baseball America.

Zack Gahagan added two RBIs for the Tar Heels, who now travel to Pittsburgh for an ACC series with the Panthers beginning Friday at 3 p.m.

UNC was dealt a blow in the top of the first when starter Brett Daniels was hit on the arm by a line drive and left the game with one out and runners on second and third. Kelley, who has now pitched in five straight games, got a strikeout and a foul pop to escape the trouble.

Duke: The Blue Devils scored seven runs on nine hits in a 7-4 nonconference win against Bryant. Sophomore Jalen Phillips and freshman Max Miller each went 2-for-4 for Duke (13-3, 1-2 ACC). Phillips also contributed two RBI and a run scored, while Miller scored two runs. Duke is now 10-0 at home.

N.C. State: Emily Weiman struck out 10, and Renada Davis homered to lead N.C. State (13-9) to a 3-1 win at Campbell (11-7) in the first game of a doubleheader. Rain forced the cancellation of Game 2; no makeup date was announced.

Duke: Five Blue Devils will compete at the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history. Duke garnered four automatic spots during their fourth-place showing at the ACC Championship and picked up a final at-large bid for the program-best mark. Mitch Finesilver (133), Marcus Cain (149), Jacob Kasper (184) and Conner Hartmann (197) clinched the automatic bids. Redshirt senior Immanuel Kerr-Brown grabbed one of the six at-large berths in the 157-pound division after his fourth-place showing over the weekend.

N.C. State: With a top-10 finish on platform at the Zone B Championships at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium, Rachel Mumma is now eligible to compete in all three diving events at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships under the new qualification standards. The championships will be held March 19-21 in Greensboro.

Duke: Junior Jaimee Gundry and freshman MaryEllen Targonski wrapped up the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships in strong fashion with top-15 finishes in the platform final.

Duke: The Blue Devils defense limited Georgetown to just four goals on 20 shot attempts in a 12-4 nonconference victory at the Hoyas’ Multi-Sport Field. Senior Brigid Smith had a game-high four goals for Duke (8-0), which registered assists of 10 of the scores.

This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 9:04 PM with the headline "College roundup: UNC Tar Heels baseball defeats Gardner-Webb."