Wolfpack Rally Past Old Dominion, 6-4

Wednesday, April 24

Raleigh, NC

7:00 PM

NC State

26-17

Old Dominion

18-22

Old Dominion

NC State

4/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 24, 2002

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. - Colt Morton drilled a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning and Brian Ross pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings in relief to lift NC State to a 6-4 college baseball victory over Old Dominion on Wednesday night at Doak Field.

With the win, the Wolfpack improved to 26-17 on the season, while the Monarchs dropped to 18-22. Ross (1-0), the last of four NC State pitchers, got the win after allowing just one hit and striking out three. He did not issue a walk. Jonathan Tinkham (3-2), the third ODU pitcher got the loss after yielding Morton's game-winning homer on his first pitch after coming into the game in the seventh inning. Tinkham allowed two runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings.

The Monarchs picked up the game's first run in the top of the third when Mike Croley reached on an infield single, went to second on a sacrifice, and scored on Ryan Harvey's bad-hop double, which took a wicked hop past Sammy Esposito at first base and skipped down the right-field line.

ODU tacked on two more in the top of the fourth thanks in part to a couple of balks by Wolfpack reliever Kyle Stephenson. Kevin Snapp singled to left with one out and went to second on Stephenson's first balk of the inning. With two away, Allen Strick singled to right to drive in Snapp, and Stephenson balked him to second. John Oehler lined an RBI single to center field to drive in Strick and make it 3-0, but the inning died when Oehler was cut down trying to stretch his hit into a double.

The Monarchs got an unearned run in the top of the fifth. Croley led off and went all the way to second on a throwing error. Harvey grounded out to move Croley to third, and after Jared Musolf was hit by a pitch, he and Croley attempted a double steal. Musolf got into a rundown between first and second while Croley scored to make it 4-0, and Musolf wound up back at first on the play.

Chad Orvella led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and went to second on a passed ball. Joe Gaetti singled to center field to drive in Orvella with NC State's first run, stole second and went to third when Croley couldn't handle the throw at second base. Justin Riley doubled to right-center to drive in Gaetti and cut the ODU lead to 4-2.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Brian Wright walked and Riley singled. Tinkham came on in relief of reliever Kevin Evans, who had not allowed a run in 2 1/3 innings to that point. Morton drove Tinkham's first offering into the screen above the wall in left for a three-run homer and a 5-4 NC State lead.

The Pack tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Hargrave doubled with two outs, and Orvella and Gaetti hit infield singles, Gaetti's ball driving in the run to make it 6-4.

NC State will be back in action this weekend with a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Florida State. Friday's game will be at 7 p.m., and will be televised on the Florida Sunshine Network. Viewers with sattelite dishes and digital cable subscribers can pick up the game locally. Saturday's game will be at 4 p.m., and Sunday's finale will be at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on WKNC, 88.1 FM, and over the internet on www.gopack.com.