Wake Forest Cools Off NC State, 11-9

Saturday, April 12

Winston-Salem, N.C.

12:00 PM

NC State

28-8, 0

Wake Forest

21-10, 0

NC State

Wake Forest

4/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 12, 2003

Final Stats

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - NC State committed four errors and Wake Forest, which banged out 14 hits, scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday afternoon to hand the Wolfpack an 11-9 loss in the first game of an Atlantic Coast Conference doubleheader at Hooks Stadium. The Wolfpack fell to 28-8 ovoerall with the loss, 7-3 in the ACC, while the Deacons improved to 21-10 and 7-5.

Reliever Adam Hanson (5-2) picked up the win for the Deacons in relief of ace Kyle Sleeth, who struggled through 7-2/3 innings. Hanson did not allow a hit in 1-1/3 innings, walking one and striking out one. NC State relief ace Joey Devine (4-1) took the loss on a pair of unearned runs in an inning of work. He did not walk or strike out a batter.

Marc Maynor led off the top of the first with a walk and Jeremy Dutton doubled down the right-field line, putting runners on second and third. Justin Riley struck out, but Colt Morton drew a walk to load the bases with one out. After David Hicks popped out on the infield, Sleeth uncorked a wild pitch on the first delivery to Joe Gaetti, allowing Maynor to score the first run of the game. Sleeth got Gaetti on a fly to right to end the threat.

The Deacons tied the score in the bottom of the first, thanks to some help from the NC State defense. Adam Bourassa led off with a fly ball to left that Matt Camp misjudged into a double. Ryan Hubbard laid down a bunt that Cretarolo dropped for an error, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Jamie D'Antona struck out, bbut Ryan Johnson got the run in with a sacrifice fly to right field, leveling the score at 1-1.

Ryan Ruziecki led off the bottom of the second with a double to dead center field. Cretarolo struck out Ben Ingold looking for the first out and retired Chris Getz on a one-hopper back to the mound, but Steven Malinowski, the nine hitter in the lineup, belted a two-out double to right-center to drive in Ruziecki and give the Deacons a 2-1 lead.

Wake Forest added a crooked number in the bottom of the third. D'Antona led off with a walk and Johnson lined a single up the middle. Brad Scioletti ripped a double down the left-field line to drive in one run, leaving runners at second and third, and Ben Ingold's 12-hopper to the right side of the infield dribbled through the infield for a two-run single, giving the Deacs a 5-1 lead.

The Wolfpack got three runs back in the top of the fourth. Joe Gaetti reached on a one-out infield single and Matt Camp hit an opposite-field single down the left-field line. With two down, Adam Hargrave hit a line drive the other way, and with prehaps a little assistance from the wind, the ball curled around the foul pole in right field for a three-run home run, cutting the lead to 5-4.

Dutton led off the top of the fifth with a single to right, stole second, took third on Sleeth's third wild pitch of the game, and tied the game at 5-5 on Colt Morton's sacrifice fly to center field.

Gaetti's leadoff home run in the top of the sixth gave the Wolfpack a 6-5 lead, but it could have been an even bigger inning. Matt Camp walked and was bunted to second by Chad Orvella. Hargrave was grazed by a pitch and on strike three to Maynor, the two runners pulled a double steal. Sleeth walked Dutton intentinally, and then struck out Riley on a tough offspeed pitch to get out of the inning trailing by just one run.

Wake Forest again benefited from some sloppy play from the Wolfpack in the bottom of the sixth. Chris Getz led off and walked, and Malinowski bunted him to second. Bourassa grounded to third for the second out, but Cretarolo threw away Hubbard's bunt for a two-base error, allowing Getz to score. That was the end of the afternoon for Cretarolo, and reliever Phillip Davidson struggled when he first entered the game. D'Antona doubled to center field to drive in Hubbard, and Johnson singled to right to drive in D'Antona. Pinch-hitter Steve LeFaivre capped the inning with an RBI double into the left-field corner to drive in Johnson and give Sleeth and Wake Forest a 9-6 lead.

The Wolfpack stormed back in the top fo the eighth with three runs. Camp led off and singled to left, and with one out, Lee Mezistrano pinch-hit and singled to left. Camp went to third on the play and Mezistrano took second on the throw. Maynor reached on an error that scored Camp, Dutton drove in a run on a groundout, and Justin Riley singled up the middle to drive in the tying run, making it 9-9.

Wake's won the game with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the inning off of NC State relief ace Joey Devine, who got D'Antona and Johnson on fly balls to start the inning. LeFaivre singled to right, but Ruziecki hit an easy grounder to second base that Dustin Murphy booted for an error. Ingold followed with an RBI single to left to drive in LeFaivre, and Getz singled up the middle to send home Ruziecki. Ingold was cut down attempting to go to third base on the play, but the damage was done.