NC State Salvages Series Finale Vs. Maryland, 7-4

Sunday, May 4

Raleigh, N.C.

1:30 PM

NC State

38-12, 0

Maryland

18-29, 0

Maryland

NC State

NC State Salvages Series Finale Vs. Maryland, 7-4

5/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 4, 2003

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. - Tim Coffield doubled, homered and drove in three runs, and Phillip Davidson pitched 2-2/3 scoreless innings in relief Sunday as fifth-ranked NC State defeated Maryland 7-4 in the final game of their Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series at Doak Field.

The Wolfpack, which salvaged the final game of the series after losing the first two, improved to 38-12 overall and 14-7 in the ACC. Maryland dropped to 18-28 with the loss, 6-13 in the ACC.

NC State is now all alone in second place in the conference standings, a half-game behind front-running and No. 2-ranked Florida State. The Seminoles won two of three from Georgia Tech this weekend to drop the Yellow Jackets into third place in the conference, a half-game behind NC State. The Pack and Jackets play one another May 15-17 in Atlanta.

Davidson (4-2) came on in relief of starter Nate Cretarolo with one down and runners at first and second and the score tied at 4-4 in the top of the seventh inning. He allowed one hit, struck out two and did not walk a batter. Maryland reliever Josh Andrews (0-1) took the loss after allowing two runs on three hits in 2-plus innings of work. He walked one and struck out two.

The Terps jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on Mike Cosantino's leadoff bloop single to left field and Anthony Buffone's home run down the right-field line, just inside the foul pole.

With one out in the top of the second, Joe Sargent walked and Cosantino lined a single to center. Buffone lined out to third base for the second out, but Ray Gemmill blooped a single to left, driving in Sargent to make it 3-0.

NC State got on the board with a run in the bottom of the second. David Hicks led off with a sharp single to right and Jeremy Dutton singled to center. Coffield walked to load the bases with nobody out, and Marc Maynor drove in Hicks with a sacrifice fly to center field. Ainsworth avoided further damage by getting Chad Orvella on a grounder back to the mound Adam Hargrave on a grounder to shortstop.

Coffield, in the lineup in place of the injured Colt Morton, hit a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead back to a run at 3-2.

The Wolfpack took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. With one away, Matt Camp and Lee Mezistrano walked, and Maryland starter Todd Ainsworth balked them to second and third. Justin Riley hit a hard grounder to shortstop to drive in Camp, knocking Ainsworth from the game. David Hicks hit reliever Josh Andrews' first pitch to right for an RBI double, driving in Mezistrano and giving NC State a 4-3 lead.

Joe Sargent led off the top of the seventh with a double over the head of Maynor in center field, snapping a string of 10 consecutive hitters set down by Cretarolo. Cosantino flied to right, but Buffone reached on an infield single, and Gemmill singled to center to drive in Sargent and tie the game at 4-4. That was the end of the afternoon for Cretarolo. Davidson came out of the bullpen and needed just two pitches to get Will Frazier to bounced into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.

Andrews hit Mezistrano with a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh, and Riley doubled to right field. Hicks and Dutton struck out, but reliever Brooks Norris served up a first-pitch double down the left-field line to Coffield, driving in both runners and giving the Wolfpack a 6-4 lead.

The Pack added one more in the bottom of the eighth. Orvella singled to left, went to second on Hargrave's bunt, stole third and scored on pinch-hitter Dustin Knight's double to left-center.

The Wolfpack now will take 10 days off for final exams before heading to Georgia Tech for the final series of the regular season