Philadelphia, PA – Ricky Santiago broke up a no-hit bid with a three-run home run in the seventh inning as the Florida Atlantic Owls upset the North Carolina Tar Heels, 3-2, in the Chapel Hill Regional.
Tar Heels (54-9) starter Hobbs Johnson pitched six no-hit innings before being taken out in the seventh inning after he walked the leadoff batter. Trevor Kelley came on in relief and walked the first batter he faced. Then after recording a strikeout, Kelley gave up Santiago's home run, which was the first hit for FAU (40-21) in the game.
With the win the Owls forced a winner-take-all elimination game on Monday with the victor moving on to next weekend's Super Regional round.
Michael Sylvestri pitched two scoreless innings of relief to get the win and Hugh Adams managed to get the save despite allowing a pair of hits in the ninth inning. Florida Atlantic got to the regional final by defeating Towson, 6-5, earlier in the day.
Chaz Frank went 4-for-5 for the Tar Heels while Colin Moran and Michael Russell each drove in a run.
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