Wake Forest Thumps NC State Baseball, 13-7

Sunday, March 24

Raleigh, N.C.

1:30 PM ET

NC State

18-7, 0

Wake Forest

19-4, 0

Wake Forest

NC State

3/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 24, 2002

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. ? Jamie D'Antona had three hits and drove in five runs Sunday afternoon as Wake Forest defeated NC State 13-7 in the final and deciding game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series at Doak Field.

The Deacons, who improved to 19-4 overall and 4-1 in the ACC, took the series two games to one after dropping the opener 5-4 on Friday afternoon. Wake won the middle game on Saturday 8-6. NC State dropped to 18-7 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Brian Bach (3-0) picked up the win after working five innings and allowing five runs on 10 hits. He walked three and struck out two. Daniel Caldwell (5-2) took the loss. He allowed nine runs, six of them earned, on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Adam Bourassa led off the top of the first for Wake Forest with a sinking liner to center field that Marc Maynor dived for but was unable to hang onto. That went for a single, and Nick Blue walked. Ryan Johnson hit a chopper back to Caldwell that advanced the runners to second and third, and D'Antona singled past shortstop Chad Orvella to drive in both runners. With two down and the runner off from first, Stephen Ghutzman doubled off Maynor's glove to drive in D'Antona and give Wake Forest a 3-0 lead.

The Pack got one run back in the bottom of the first on a balk. Maynor led off with a single up the middle and went to second on Orvella's sacrifice. Brian Wright hit a towering drive to right that just missed going out of the park. Instead, Wright had to settle for a double, and Maynor, who had to hold up to make sure the ball was not caught wound up on third. Bach then balked Maynor home and Wright to third, trimming the Wake lead to 3-1.

NC State's problem fielding bunts, which first surfaced on Saturday, reared its ugly head again in the top of the second. With one away, Ryan Hubbard reached when his bunt to third was misplayed for an error, and then stole second. Bourassa then laid down a bunt to third that went for a single, putting runners on the corners with one away. Blue made three botched bunt plays in a row for the Wolfpack when he dropped one up the first-base line. David Hicks fielded the ball on the grass between the bag and the mound and looked to second before deciding to go for the out at first base. That hesitation allowed Blue to reach with an RBI bunt single. Compounding matters, Caldwell had his back turned when he covered first base on the play and never saw Hicks's flip to the bag. The ball rolled away for an error on Hicks that left runners on second and third. Ryan Johnson followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in Bourassa, and D'Antona singled to right to score Blue and give the Deacons a 6-1 lead midway through the second inning.

Jeremy Dutton led off the bottom of the third with an infield single and went to second on Bach's second balk of the game. Maynor walked, and with one down Brian Wright hit an infield single to load the bases. Colt Morton walked to drive in one run and cut the lead to 6-2, but Bach managed to knock down Hicks's line shot back to the box and throw to the plate for a force play and then got Matt Butler to foul out and end the inning.

Wake Forest was back at it again in the top of the fourth. Ryan Hubbard led off and was hit by a pitch. Bourassa doubled to right-center to put runners on second and third, and Blue hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in Hubbard and send Bourassa to third. Johnson's double to left-center drove in Bourassa and gave Wake Forest an 8-2 lead.

Joe Gaetti led off the bottom of the fourth for NC State with an infield single, and Adam Hargrave singled to left. Dutton moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice, and Maynor walked to load the bases. Orvella bounced a single up the middle to drive in one run, and Wright's grounder to second drove in another, slicing the Deacons' lead to 8-4 through four innings.

Jeff Ruziecki grounded a single through the right side of the infield with one away for Wake Forest in the top of the fifth, and Ben Ingold singled to left. Nate Cretarolo came in to relieve Caldwell and struck out Hubbard for the second out, but Bourassa was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Blue walked to drive in a run and make it 9-4.

Hicks led off the bottom of the fifth with his 16th double of the season and scored on pinch-hitter Mike Prochaska's single past third base, pulling the Wolfpack back to within four runs at 9-5. Maynor and Orvella walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and pulled a double steal. Maynor scored on Morton's groundout to third to cut the lead to three runs at 9-6.

Wake Forest brewed up a big rally in the top of the seventh. Hubbard led off with a walk and Bourassa singled off the glove of Cretarolo. Blue bunted the runners to second and third, and Cretarolo hit Blue with a pitch to load the bases with one out. D'Antona and LeFaivre hit back-to-back two-run doubles to blow the game open at 13-6.

The Wolfpack added one final run in the bottom of the ninth. Justin Riley led off with a double off the wall in left and went to third on Tim Coffield's single to right. Gaetti chopped a single to left to drive in Riley and make the final score 13-7, Wake Forest.