NC State
25-32
Virginia (ACC Tournament)
33-25
NC State Baseball Downs Virginia 6-5 In 10 Innings
5/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 23, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Brian Wright belted two home runs, including the game-winner in the top of the 10th inning, and Ryan Combs made the defensive play of the season Thursday to lead NC State to a 6-5 victory over Virginia in an elimination game at the 2002 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament.
The win sends the Wolfpack into an elimination game at noon on Friday against Clemson, which lost 9-4 to Florida State.
Combs (1-1) blew a save situation in the bottom of the ninth when Shawn McCleary's two-out single drove in pinch-runner Miguel Luina with the tying run, but Combs saved the Wolfpack's season on the very next pitch, when Chris Sweet laid down a bunt with a runner on third. Combs made a sliding scoop of the ball, shoveling it to catcher Colt Morton, who put the tag on Mark Reynolds, who represented the potential game-winning run for Virginia and the season-ending run for NC State.
Instead of the save, Combs picked up the win with three innings of four-hit relief. He allowed one run, walked two and struck out four, including the dangerous Dan Street looking to end the game. Wright, who belted a two-run homer just inside the foul pole in right field in the top of the second, made a winner out of Combs with an absolute bomb to right in the top of the 10th off an 0-2 hanging slider from Virginia reliever Alan Zimmerer (1-3), who took the loss. Zimmerer allowed one run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings. He walked none and struck out two.
The Wolfpack spotted UVa a two-run lead in the bottom of the first, all with two outs. Dan Street got a fly ball up in the wind and off the wall in right field for a triple, and Robert Word singled to left to drive in the first run of the game. Word took second on a passed ball and scored when Joe Gaetti lost Mark Reynolds' fly ball to right in the high sky. The ball fell for an RBI double to give Virginia a 2-0 lead after one inning.
NC State appeared to get all the offense that starter Mike Prochaska would need with a five-spot in the top of the second. David Hicks led off the top of the second with a single to right and Chad Orvella was hit by a pitch. Sammy Esposito bunted the runners to second and third, and Adam Hargrave's grounder to third drove in Hicks with the Wolfpack's first run. After Marc Maynor walked, Joe Gaetti drove a ball high and deep to the wall in left. David Stone leaped at the wall and made a great play to get a glove on the ball and keep it from leaving the park, but he was unable to hold on, and Gaetti wound up with a two-run double that gave the Pack the lead at 3-2. Wright followed with his first homer of the day, his 13th of the season, to NC State a 5-2 lead after an inning and a half.
Prochaska, who wound up allowing four runs, three of them earned, on 11 hits in seven innings, managed to keep the Cavaliers off the scoreboard again until the bottom of the fifth, when Matt Street singled to center with one out and Dan Street followed with a two-run homer to left, trimming the lead to 5-4.
Meanwhile, Virginia starter Canon Hickman kept NC State quiet following the Wolfpack's second-inning uprising. He never retired the Wolfpack in order -- neither side went down 1-2-3 during the entire game -- but he stranded four baserunners and got four double plays turned behind him, tying an ACC Tournament record. Following the five-run second inning, NC State advanced just one runner into scoring position until Wright's game-winner in the 10th.
The game-tying rally by Virginia seemed to come out of nowhere. Combs cruised through the first two outs, striking out Matt and Dan Street looking, but Word doubled to right-center, and Luina pinch-ran. Reynolds was intentionally walked after Combs fell behind in the count at 3-and-0. That brought up McCleary, who had gronded out and struck out in two previous at-bats, both against Prochaska. McClearly singled through the left side of the infield to drive in the tying run. Reynolds went to third on the play because of defensive interference, but was out at the plate on Combs's defensive gem on the squeeze bunt by Sweet. The Wolfpack then lived to play another day on Wright's one-out blast to right.
NOTES: Wright, who is now batting .423 with 26 doubles, 14 home runs and 73 RBIs on the season, now has six hits in two games in the ACC Tournament. His second-inning homer extended his current hitting streak to 14 games. He is batting .483 (28-for-58) with eight doubles, eight home runs and 17 RBIs during the streak.
NC State is now 42-24 all-time in elimination games in the ACC Tournament.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Combs, Ryan (1-1)
L: Alan Zimmerer (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Gaetti, Joe 1
HR: Wright, Brian 2
RBI: Gaetti, Joe 2 ; Wright, Brian 3 ; Hargrave, Adam 1
SH: Esposito, Sam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gaetti, Joe 1 ; Wright, Brian 2 ; Hicks, David 1 ; Orvella, Chad 1 ; Maynor, Marc 1
CS: Hargrave, Adam 1
HBP: Orvella, Chad 1
Batting:
2B: Robert Word 1 ; Mark Reynolds 1
3B: Dan Street 1
HR: Dan Street 1
RBI: Dan Street 2 ; Robert Word 1 ; Mark Reynolds 1 ; Shawn McCleary 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Matt Street 1 ; Dan Street 2 ; Robert Word 1 ; Miguel Luina 1
SB: Shawn McCleary 1
CS: David Stone 1
PO: David Stone 1
