North Carolina State University Athletics
Wright Drives In Seven, Wolfpack Spanks Maryland, 15-7
4/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. – Brian Wright went 4-for-4 with a double, a home run, two stolen bases and seven RBIs, and Jason Blanton turned in seven strong innings Sunday as NC State cruised past Maryland 15-7 in an Atlantic Coast Conference baseball game at Doak Field.
The Wolfpack, which took two of three games in the series, improved to 21-18 overall and 7-8 in the ACC. The Terps dropped to 11-23 and 3-11. NC State righthander Jason Blanton (4-1) won his third consecutive start, allowing two runs, one of them unearned, on nine hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out three. Maryland starter Mark Martin (3-6) took the loss after allowing seven runs, six of them earned, on eight hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out three.
Maryland jumped to a 1-0 lead on an unearned run in the top of the first. Matt Swope led off and was safe on an error. He went to third on John McCurdy’s double down the right-field line, and scored on a groundout.
The Wolfpack threatened in the bottom of the first and did not score, but then erupted for four runs in the bottom of the second, all after two men were out. Justin Riley drew a two-out walk and stole second. Adam Miller reached on catcher’s interference, and he and Riley pulled a double-steal to advance to second and third. Jeremy Dutton singled up the middle to drive in both runners and give the Pack a 2-1 lead. Brian Wright followed with a two-run homer to right field to make it 4-1.
McCurdy got one run back for the Terps by himself with a one-out solo homer to left field in the top of the third to make it 4-2.
The Pack added two more in the bottom of the fourth. Riley and Miller led off the inning with singles, and Dutton advanced them to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Wright followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, and Miller scored all the way from second on the play when the Terrapins were slow getting the ball back to the infield, lifting the Pack to a 6-2 lead.
Miller led off the bottom of the sixth with an opposite-field single to right, chasing Martin from the game. On reliever Matt Basinger’s first two pitches, Jeremy Dutton drilled an RBI-triple to right, and Brian Wright singled up the middle to drive in a run and make it 8-1. Basinger’s next pitch was a double play, but Colt Morton singled to left, and Matt Butler followed with an RBI double to the wall in left to make it 9-1 and chase Basinger from the game.
The Wolfpack blew the game wide open with a five-run seventh. Sean Walsh led off with a single, and Riley and Miller walked to load the bases with none out. Dutton singled through the drawn-in infield to drive in Walsh, and Riley scored to make it 11-2 when the throw from the outfield got past the catcher for an error, with Dutton and Miller advancing to second and third on the play. Wright smashed a two-run double to right, and Jamey Shearin drilled an RBI-double to left, upping the lead to 14-2.
The Terps refused to go out quietly. Edwin Thompson led off the top of the eighth with a walk and Ray Gemmill reached on an infield single. Sean Lomas singled home one run, and Anthony Buffone hit an RBI double to make it 14-4. Matt Swope drove in Lomas with a groundout, and McCurdy drove in a run with a grounder that got through the left side for a single that cut the lead to 14-6.
Miller hit a one-out solo homer to left in the bottom of the eighth to give the Wolfpack a 15-6 lead, but Maryland scored one last time in the top of the ninth. Jeremy Suarez walked with one out, and Lomas and Buffone singled to load the bases. Swope was hit by a pitch to force in a run and make the final score 15-7.
