Philadelphia, PA – A five-run sixth inning catapulted the third-seed Towson Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the second-seed Florida Atlantic Owls and into the winner's bracket of the Chapel Hill Regional of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Andrew Parker's three-run home run in the sixth inning was the biggest blow for the Tigers (30-28) and helped Mike Volpe earn the win after he allowed just a single unearned run over seven innings of work.
Corey Keller was 1-for-4 for the Owls (39-21) with his double the only extra- base hit for Florida Atlantic. Jeremy Strawn was on the hook for the loss after letting up five runs on seven hits in five innings.
The top-seed North Carolina Tar Heels came out of the gates firing and held on for a 6-3 win over the fourth-seed Canisius Golden Griffins in the second game on the day.
The Tar Heels (53-8) scored four runs over the first two innings, including three in the first on RBI doubles from Cody Stubbs and Brian Holberton. Holberton was 2-for-4 in the contest and Chaz Frank added three hits in five at bats. Chris McCue got the win after pitching 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Ryan Coppinger and Jose Torralba each had a pair of hits as the only players for Canisius (42-16) with multi-hit games. Torralba also had an RBI while Garrett Cortright took the loss after allowing six runs, four of which were earned, on 13 hits over seven innings.
On Saturday Florida Atlantic and Canisius will meet up in the loser's bracket while North Carolina and Towson will play later in the day in the winner's bracket. The winner of the Florida Atlantic/Canisius contest will face the loser between North Carolina and Towson on Sunday for a spot in the regional final. The loser of the Florida Atlantic/Canisius contest on Saturday will be eliminated from the tournament.
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