Richmond Downs N.C. State Baseball, 9-7

Saturday, March 9

Raleigh, N.C.

1:30 PM ET

NC State

13-4

Richmond

11-1

Richmond

NC State

3/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 9, 2002

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. - Matt Craig drove in three runs, and Richmond pitchers overcame four errors behind them to hand NC State a 9-7 defeat Saturday in the second game of a three-game series at Doak Field.

Matt McLoughlin (1-0) worked two innings in relief for Richmond to get the win. McLoughlin allowed five runs, but four were unearned. He walked none and struck out none. Derek Duclos pitched two scoreless innings to get his first save.

Freshman Michael Rogers (2-2) was not sharp and took the loss for NC State after allowing seven runs on eight hits in six-plus innings. He walked four and struck out three and was in trouble most of the afternoon.

Rogers entered the game with a scoreless-innings streak of 17, but Richmond ended that at 18 in the top of the second when Vito Chiaravalloti led off with a double to right-center and came around to score on a pair of grounders to shortstop.

Rogers ran into more trouble in the top of the third. Chris Dolan led off with a single to left and David Reaver drew a one-out walk. Craig drove in both runners with a triple down the right-field line, giving the Spiders a 3-0 lead.

The Wolfpack got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with some aid and comfort from the Richmond defense. David Hicks led off and reached on a throwing error by second baseman Brian Ruscello, and Colt Morton drew a one-out walk. Joe Gaetti grounded to second base and beat the relay after Morton was out on the force at second, leaving runners on the corners with two down. Gaetti stole second base, and Adam Hargrave singled to left to drive in both runners and cut the lead to 3-2.

Gaetti greeted reliever Matt McLoughlin with a long leadoff home run to left field to tie the score at 3-3, but the Spiders broke the tie and knocked Rogers out of the game in the top of the seventh. Dolan led off with a single to left, and Cronin walked. Bryan Pritz hit a ball to the hole at shortstop that went for an infield single to load the bases, and Reaver reached out with one hand and slapped a single up the middle to drive in Dolan with the go-ahead run.

Nate Cretarolo came in for Rogers and gave up an RBI single to Craig and a two-run single to Chiaravalloti to make it 7-3 before getting Fasano to ground into a double play. Ryan Combs replaced Cretarolo, and Adam Tidball made it 8-3 with a two-out bunt single, driving in Craig. Dolan's second hit of the inning, a single to left, drove in Tidball to give the Spiders a 9-3 advantage.

The home half of the seventh was just about as eventful as the top half of the inning. Brian Wright led off and was safe on an error. Hicks followed with a single, and with one out Mike Prochaska reached on a force play, with Hicks out at second on the play. That left runners on the corners with two outs, and Gaetti singled to drive in Wright and make it 9-4. Hargrave singled to left to load the bases, and Marc Maynor cleared them with a three-run double to right. Maynor was thrown out trying for a triple for the final out of the inning, but the Wolfpack had pulled to within two at 9-7.

The Wolfpack had a chance for a big inning in the bottom of the first, drawing a walk and collecting a pair of base hits, but the Spiders got the second and third outs of the inning by throwing NC State runners out at home plate. Those two potential runs loomed large in the final outcome.