North Carolina State University Athletics
ECU Trips Up Wolfpack In Season Opener, 10-2
2/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Joseph Hastings drove in four runs for the Pirates, who improved to 2-0 on the season. Cliff Godwin had two doubles and three RBIs. A trio of freshman pitchers worked for ECU, with Sam Narron picking up the victory in relief of starter Scott Green, who allowed just one run in 4 2/3 innings.
D'Amato, who wound up yielding three runs on three hits in five-plus innings, took the loss for NC State, which fell to 0-1 on the season. D'Amato pitched out of jams in the first and fourth innings, but left with the bases loaded and none out in the sixth. Sophomore lefthander Kyle Stephenson walked Hastings to break a scoreless tie, and then allowed a run-scoring ground ball for the second run of the inning. Erik Bakich singled in the third run, and Godwin doubled to left field to clear the bases and give the Pirates a 5-1 lead.
NC State, which had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth on Brian Wright's sacrifice fly, scored its second run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI groundout by freshman third baseman Jeremy Dutton, cutting the ECU lead to 5-2.
Freshman righthander Daniel Caldwell worked out of further trouble to end the sixth inning for the Pack, but ECU blew the game open in the seventh. Nick Schnabel and Chad Tracy led off with opposite-field singles, and John Williamson walked to load the bases. Hastings tripled to give ECU an 8-0 lead, and then scored on a groundout to make it 9-0. The Pirates added an unearned run in the top of the eighth.
