North Carolina State University Athletics
Seminoles Down NC State, 8-7 In 14 Innings
3/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Pinch-hitter Chris Cole's double-play ground ball scored the game-winning run in the top of the 14th inning Friday night at Doak Field, lifting Florida State to an 8-7 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball victory over NC State.
Florida State, which has won 14 in a row, improved to 17-5 overall, 4-0 in the ACC. NC State fell to 10-10 overall and 2-2 in the ACC.
Reliever Nick Whidden (1-0) got the win with 3 1/3 innings of hitless relief. He walked one and did not strike out a batter. Wolfpack reliever Josh Miller (1-2) took the loss after allowing just one run on three hits in five innings. He struck out four and did not issue a walk.
The Seminoles jumped on NC State starter Ryan Combs for three runs in the top of the first. Bryan Zech led off the game with an infield single. On the 1-2 pitch to John-Ford Griffin, the Seminoles put on the hit-and-run play and Griffin doubled off the wall in right-center, driving in Zech with the first run of the game. Ryan Barthelemy, up next, hit the first pitch to him up the middle for a single to drive in Griffin and make it 2-0 Seminoles.
FSU put on the hit-an-run again with Michael Futrell, who singled to right to put runners on first and third with none out. Karl Jernnigan followed with a single up the middle to make it 3-0. Combs got out of further trouble with a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a fly ball to end the inning.
The Seminoles had a two-run uprising in the top of the fourth. Nick Rogers reached on an infield single, and Scott Toole singled to right field. Tony Richie bunted the runners to second and third, and Zech followed with an RBI single to left. Griffin then drove in a run with a groundout to give Florida State a 5-0 lead.
FSU scored another run in the top of the sixth without hitting the ball out of the infield. Toole led off with an infield single, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on an infield single by Griffin to make it 6-0.
FSU starter Blair Varnes, meanwhile, cruised through the first six innings, allowing just two hits, one of them an infield single, and only two NC State baserunners reached scoring position before the seventh.
The Wolfpack scored two unearned runs off Varnes in the bottom of the seventh. Justin Riley led off and was hit by a pitch. With one out, Joe Gaetti blooped a single to right field, and Adam Miller bunted the runners to second and third. Jeremy Dutton grounded to shortstop, but Brett Groves' throw short-hopped Barthelemy at first base for a two-run error.
Reliever Daniel Hodges came in for Varnes to start the bottom of the eighth, and the Wolfpack mounted another two-run, two-out rally. Riley singled to right, and Jamey Shearin bounced a single up the middle to put runners on first and second. Gaetti drove in one run with a single to left, and pinch-hitter Matt Butler doubled in a run to cut the FSU lead to 6-4. Gaetti was thrown out trying to score on the play to end the inning.
The Noles added an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Barthelemy singled with one out and Futrell, who set a career high with five hits, drew a walk. The runners moved up to second and third on a groundout, and Groves laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to drive in Barthelemy and make it 7-4, Seminoles.
The Wolfpack tied the game at 7-7 with another two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth. Sean Walsh walked, and Hicks slapped an opposite-field single to left. Colt Morton followed with a towering three-run homer to center field, his sixth long ball of the season.
Florida State scored the winning run in the top of the 14th. Jernigan led off with a double down the left-field line and went to second when Groves reached on an error. Cole then grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that scored Jernigan with the winning run.
