North Carolina State University Athletics
Sullivan Bunts Wake Forest Past NC State, 8-7
4/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
• Box Score
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Cory Sullivan, unable to hold the lead on the mound, drove in the winning run with a two-out bunt single in the bottom of the eighth inning Friday night at Wake Forest downed NC State 8-7 in an Atlantic Coast Conference baseball game at Ernie Shore Field.
The win lifted the Deacons to 29-12 overall and 12-7 in the ACC. The Wolfpack fell to 23-19 and 7-9. Deacons closer David Bush (3-3) blew a save opportunity, but got credit for the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. He allowed two hits, did not issue a walk and struck out three. Daniel Caldwell (3-5) took the loss for NC State, allowing one run on one hit and one hit batter in an inning of relief.
Sullivan and Wolfpack starter Derek McKee began the game trading zeroes, but the bottom of the Wake lineup broke up the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Jamie Athas doubled to the wall in right field, and Jason Aquilante followed with an RBI single to right-center.
The Deacs struck for four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Corey Slavik led off with a single to left and stole second, and with one out Ryan Johnson doubled to left-center to drive in Slavik and make it 2-0. Josh Hansen followed with an infield single to put runners on first and third, and Matt Price singled to left to drive in Johnson. Jamie Athas grounded to first to move the runners to second and third, and Aquilante struck again, this time with a two-run single to left, driving in Hansen and Price to give Wake Forest a commanding 5-0 lead.
The Wolfpack finally got on the board in the top of the fifth. Matt Butler led off with a single through the legs of Sullivan and into center field, and Sean Walsh drilled a two-run homer to left, cutting the Wake lead to 5-2.
Wake got the two runs back in the next two innings. Johnson led off the bottom of the sixth for Wake Forest with a single to right field and scored all the way from first on Price's one-out triple off the top of the wall in center field, upping the lead to 6-2. Slavik doubled with one out in the bottom of the seventh and scored on Jamie D'Antona's triple off the wall in center field to make it 7-2.
NC State got back into the game in the top of the eighth. Jeremy Dutton led off with a bad-hop single down the right-field line, and Jamey Shearin drilled a one-out double off the wall in right-center to put runners on second and third. Colt Morton walked, and freshman Adam Hanson relieved Sullivan. Justin Riley greeted Hanson with a two-run double down the left-field line, and Butler laced a two-run single up the middle, pulling the Wolfpack to within a run at 7-6.
Closer David Bush was brought in at that point and promptly sent Butler to second base with a wild pitch. Bush retired Walsh on a pop-up to shortstop, but David Hicks singled up the middle to drive in Butler and tie the score at 7-7. Wake pushed the game-winner across in the bottom of the inning. Caldwell hit Price with a pitch leading off the inning, and Athas bunted Price to second. Price then stole third base, a crucial play, because Caldwell retired Stephen Ghutzman on a grounder to first for the second out of the inning, with Price holding at third with the infield drawn in. But Sullivan, 0-for-4 on the evening, came up next and got the run home with a perfectly executed bunt single to the right side of the infield, giving the Demon Deacons an 8-7 lead heading into the ninth.
The Wolfpack did not go quietly in the ninth. Dutton led off with an opposite-field liner to the wall in left, but Carlos Brackley tracked it down and made a nice catch just before running into the fence for the first out of the inning. Wright followed with an opposite-field double down the left-field line, but Bush nailed down the win by striking out Shearin and Morton for the final two outs of the game.
