NC State Baseball Downs UNCW 5-4

Tuesday, April 22

Raleigh, N.C.

7:00 PM

NC State

34-9

UNC-Wilmington

29-15

UNC-Wilmington

NC State

4/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 22, 2003

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. - Adam Hargrave drove a one-out hit-and-run double to right-center field to drive in Matt Camp with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night at Doak Field, giving sixth-ranked NC State a 5-4 victory over UNC Wilmington.

Hargrave's double, which came after Camp worked losing pitcher Blake Cross (1-3) for an eight-pitch walk, made a winner of starting shortstop Chad Orvella (1-1), who faced one batter and got two outs when the baserunner left early on a flyball out. The Wolfpack improved to 34-9 with the victory, while the Seahawks dropped to 29-15.

UNC Wilmington took a 2-0 lead before most of the crowd of 987 had even arrived at the ballpark when starting pitcher Matt Sutton drilled a one-out two-run homer to right in the top of the first inning. NC State's Justin Riley answered Sutton's two-run bomb with one of his own in the bottom of the inning, a one-out shot to left that tied the score at 2-2.

UNCW went back in front in the top of the second. Jon Davis led off with a walk, and Pat Murphy bunted Davis to second. After Brad Denson fouled out to third base, Chip Grawey lined a single through the left side of the infield to drive in Davis and give the Seahawks a 3-2 lead.

NC State came back and took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Riley and Colt Morton led off with walks. The Pack got a huge break when Davis, the UNCW right fielder, lost Dustin Knight's fly ball in the wind. The ball fell untouched for a double, scoring Riley and sending Morton to third. David Hicks got Morton home with the go-ahead run on a grounder to second base, giving the Wolfpack a 4-3 lead.

The pitchers took over from there until the ninth. Jake Mullis, Matt Carter and Will Hunt came out of the bullpen to hurl three shutout innings for the Seahawks. Wolfpack starter Phillip Davidson allowed three runs on six hits in six innings, but gave up just one run in 5-2/3 innings after Sutton's homer in the first. Joey Devine came out of the bullpen to start the seventh inning for the Pack and cruised through the seventh and eighth without allowing a baserunner before running into trouble in the ninth.

With one out in the ninth, Davis singled to left, and John Raynor pinch-ran. Jason Schindler pinch-hit for Murphy and lofted a fly ball to the wall in left, where Lee Mezistrano made a leaping attempt, but came up emptyhanded. The ball hit the wall and dropped for an RBI double, tying the score at 1-1. When Devine followed that by hitting Denson with a pitch, head coach Elliott Avent brought Orvella in to pitch to Seahawks leadoff hitter Chip Grawey, who flied to center field. Schindler advanced to third on the play, but the Wolfpack appealed that Schindler left second base too soon, and third-base umpire Stan Johnson upheld the appeal.

That set the stage for Camp and Orvella in the bottom of the ninth off of Cross, UNCW's closer.

The Wolfpack now will take two days off before returning to Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend against 22nd-ranked North Carolina at Doak Field. Game times will be 7 p.m. on Friday, and 1:30 on Saturday and Sunday.