NC State Rallies To Down Wake Forest, 8-7

Sunday, April 17

Winston-Salem, N.C.

1:00 PM

NC State

27-11, 0

Wake Forest

16-21, 0

NC State

Wake Forest

4/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 17, 2005

Final Stats

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - NC State rallied for four runs in the top of the eighth inning Sunday and took a crucial 8-7 decision over Wake Forest in the deciding game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series at Gene Hooks Stadium.

The win pulled the Wolfpack, 27-11 overall, back to the break-even mark in conference play at 9-9. The Pack is now in sixth place in the conference, comfortably ahead of Wake Forest, 16-21 overall and 9-12 in the ACC, and Virginia, which is 6-10 in the conference after defeating Clemson 9-2 on Sunday. Florida State is in fifth place in the league at 9-6.

Junior lefthander Jason Duncan (4-0) got the win for the Wolfpack with two innings of airtight relief, retiring all six men he faced, the last five of them on strikes. Duncan has now worked 13 consecutive scoreless innings, and in his last two appearances he has allowed no runs on two hits, walked one and struck out 12. He has retired 17 of the last 19 men he has faced.

Joey Devine pitched two innings for his eighth save in as many opportunities. He allowed a run on three hits, struck out three and walked none. Devine has now worked 15 consecutive innings and faced 62 consecutive batters without issuing a walk.

Eric Niessen (1-2) took the loss for Wake Forest. He walked the only two batters faced, both of which scored.

Ramon Corona had a career-high four hits with a double and an RBI in four at-bats for the Wolfpack. Jake Muyco went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs. Aaron Bates concluded a big series for him with a single and a double in three at-bats. J.B. Tucker doubled, homered and drove in four runs to pace Wake Forest. Matt Antonelli went 2-for-3, and Casey Sterk went 2-for-4 and drove in a run.

NC State broke on top in the top of the third inning with an unearned run. With one out, Corona reached on an infield single and Jonathan Diaz was hit by a pitch. Matt Camp grounded to first baseman Brendan Enick, who threw to second to force Diaz. Shortstop Andy Goff then threw to third in an attempt to get Corona, who had strayed too far past the bag, but Goff's throw skipped past third base for an error that allowed Corona to stroll home with the game's first run.

Bates led off the top of the fourth with a double to right-center, and went to third on Aaron Cone's fly ball to center field. Muyco's fly ball to shallow center field fell in for a single to drive in Bates and give the Pack a 2-0 lead.

Antonelli led off the bottom of the fourth for the Deacons, walked and stole second. Ben Ingold sacrificed Antonelli to third, and Tucker hit a sacrifice fly to right field to cut the Wolfpack's lead in half at 2-1.

Wake Forest took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Matt Miller walked with one away and came around to score on a hit-and-run double by Sterk, tying the score at 2-2. Goff grounded out for the second out, but that was the last man NC State starter Gib Hobson retired. Brett Linnenkohl siongled to left to drive in Sterk and give the Deacons the lead at 3-2. Antonelli followed with a single to left to put runners at first and second. Ingold singled to right to drive in Linnenkohl, and Tucker capped the rally and chased Hobson to the showers with a two-run double into the left-field corner, giving the Demon Deacons a 6-2 lead.

The Wolfpack got two runs back in the top of the sixth. Bates singled to left, and Cone's liner to center skipped over Miller's head and rolled to the wall for an RBI triple. Cone came in to score on Muyco's single to center, cutting the Wake Forest lead to two runs at 6-4.

Matt Devine walked to lead off the top of the eighth, and the Deacons yanked starter Brian Bach in favor of Niesen, who walked Bates and Cone to load the bases with none out. Kyle Young came out of the bullpen to face Muyco, who rolled an RBI single through the left side to score Devine and trim the lead to 6-5. Brian Aragon grounded into a double play to slow down the rally, but not before the tying run scored on the play. Lee Mezistrano followed with a chopper to second base that Ingold flipped over the first baseman's head, scoring Cone with the go-ahead run and allowing Mezistrano to go to second base. Corona finished off the rally with an RBI double off the right-field wall, driving in Mezistrano and giving the Wolfpack an 8-6 lead.

Tucker continued to play hero for Wake Forest in the bottom of the eighth, crushing a solo home run to straightaway center field off of Devine, pulling the Deacons to within a run at 8-7, but that was all the Deacons got off Devine.

NC State will return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against East Carolina in Greenville. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and the broadcast will be available over the internet on gopack.com through Yahoo's subscription service. Live in-game stats will be available on gopack.com through the Gametracker.