North Carolina State University Athletics
Morton, Hicks Lift Wolfpack Past Ball State, 11-4
3/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. (March 6, 2001) -- Colt Morton and David Hicks, both freshmen, combined for three hits and five RBIs Tuesday afternoon to lead NC State past Ball State, 11-4, in college baseball action at Doak Field.
Jeremy Dutton, a sophomore, added three hits and a pair of RBIs for the Wolfpack, which won its fourth game in a row and evened its record at 7-7. Ball State lost for the fourth time in as many games during its spring-break trip to North Carolina. The Cardinals dropped to 5-6.
Sophomore righthander Derek McKee (1-0) got the midweek start and made the most of it, working 5 2/3 strong innings. He allowed three runs on three hits, walked one and struck out a career-high eight. Four NC State relievers combined to allow no earned runs over the final 3 1/3 innings. Ball State starter Andrew Anderson (0-2) allowed four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings and was charged with the loss. He walked two and struck out seven.
The Wolfpack jumped to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Dutton led off with a single and Sean Walsh was hit by a pitch. Morton then unloaded a three-run home run to left, his fourth homer of the season. Ball State got a run back in the top of the second when Tom Deckman drilled a two-out solo homer to center field. Walsh led off the bottom of the third for NC State with a double to left-center, went to third on Brian Wright's single to right, and scored on a single to right by Hicks to give the Wolfpack a 4-1 lead.
While the NC State offense was building a lead, McKee breezed through the Ball State lineup through five innings, retiring 10 straight Cardinals following Deckman's home run. McKee finally ran into trouble in the top of the sixth. His first pitch of the inning hit Troy Garrett in the helmet. After striking out Nate Brown and Bran Snyder, McKee got a fastball up to Paul Henry, who hit the ball up into the wind and off the scoreboard in left-center field for a two-run homer that cut NC State's lead to 4-3.
McKee was lifted after walking Scott French, but reliever Josh Miller got Adam Metzler to ground into an inning-ending force play to escape further damage.
NC State got the two runs back in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Daniel Caldwell reached on an error and Adam Miller singled with two out. Dutton then drove a two-run double into the right-center-field gap, scoring Caldwell and Miller and pushing the lead back to three runs at 6-3.
The Cardinals got an unearned run back in the top of the seventh. Deckman drew a one-out walk, went to second on a groundout and scored when Matt Wood's fly ball was dropped for an error. The Wolfpack came right back in the bottom of the inning. Wright led off and was hit by a pitch. Morton walked. Hicks bunted the runners to second and third, and a passed ball and a wild pitch scored them both to make it 8-4. Caldwell bunted for a two-out single, went to second and third on wild pitches, and scored when the catcher threw wildly for an error on the second wild pitch.
The Pack capped it off with two more in the bottom of the eighth. Dutton led off with an infield single and Wright hit a one-out triple off the top of the wall in right-center to score Dutton. After Morton walked, Hicks rolled a single through the right side to score Wright and give NC State an 11-4 lead.
