North Carolina State University Athletics
Morton Leads Wolfpack Baseball Past Richmond, 7-4
3/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. - Colt Morton homered twice and drove in three runs to lead NC State to a 7-4 college baseball victory over Richmond in the first game of a doubleheader Friday at Doak Field. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Wolfpack, which improved to 4-7. Richmond dropped to 5-7.
NC State starter Dan D'Amato (2-1) allowed two runs on seven hits in five innings to pick up the win. He walked two and struck out two. Josh Miller retired all four men he faced to pick up his third save of the season. Richmond starter Mike McGirr (2-1) took the loss after allowing six runs, five of them earned, on five hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out six.
Morton got the Pack on the board in the bottom with a two-run homer in the bottom of first. Brian Wright walked with one out, and Morton followed with a towering blast over the left-field screen.
The Pack made it 4-0 in the bottom of the second, all with two outs. Jeremy Dutton walked and stole second. Adam Miller walked to put runnes on first and second, and Sean Walsh doubled to left-center-field to drive in both runners.
Richmond got one run back in the top of the fourth when John Nathans led off with a triple to left-center and scored on Ryan Martin's sacrifice fly to right. The Spiders went on to load the bases with two outs, but D'Amato pitched out of the inning without further damage.
The Spiders cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth. Adam Tidball singled through the left side with one out and went to third on a two-out hit-and-run single to center by Martin. Bobby LeNoir then stroked an RBI single to center field.
Wright led off the bottom of the fifth for the Wolfpack, reached on an infield single and stole second. With one out, Mike Prochaska flied to left, but left fielder Manny Cicchiello dropped the ball for a two-base error, allowing Wright to score. David Hicks then drilled an RBI double to right-center to score Prochaska and give the Pack a 6-2 lead.
Richmond rallied back in the top of the seventh. Cicchiello led off with a single through the left side, and Tidball walked. Nathans reached on an error to load the bases, and Martin was hit by a pitch to force in a run and trim the NC State lead to 6-3. Derek McKee relieved for the Wolfpack, and LeNoir lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Tidball to make it 6-4.
Morton struck again in the bottom of the seventh, leading off with a towering home run onto the top of the batting cages in straightaway center field, his second homer of the game and his third of the season, to push the NC State lead back to three runs at 7-4.
Notes: The Wolfpack and Spiders were set to play the second game of the doubleheader starting at 7:30 … The start time for Saturday's game, originally set for 1:30, has been moved up to noon.
