North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball Takes Down Tribe 23-0
2/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Eric Surkamp (1-0) picked up the win after pitching five complete innings of scoreless baseball. He gave up only five hits, walked one and struck out two. Freshman lefty Jimmy Gillheeney picked up a save, despite the lopsided score, with four dazzling innings. Gillheeney gave up a walk and a hit to the first two batters he faced, then retired the next 12 in order, striking out five. William & Mary starter Michael LaFleur (0-1) was tagged with the loss after a horrendous start to the first inning that saw him surrender eight runs, all earned, on three hits in only a third of an inning. In that time, he walked three, hit two Wolfpack batters and did not record a strikeout.
Thirteen NC State batters recorded at least one hit on the afternoon, led by Joe Florio and Marcus Jones, who each had three. Florio went 3-for-5 with one RBI and four runs scored, while Jones finished 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, a pair of runs scored and four RBIs. The Wolfpack totaled 11 extra-base hits – three of them triples – on the afternoon. The three triples marked the first time NC State had recorded that many in a game since March 14, 2001, against Campbell. The last time the Wolfpack tallied 11 extra-base hits was in a contest on March 15, 2006, vs. UNC Greensboro.
The Wolfpack wasted no time getting to LaFleur in the bottom of the first inning. Florio led off with a single to left-center field. LaFleur got Corona to fly out to left, but followed by hitting Jeremy Synan and then walked Ryan Howard to load the bases. A walk to Ryan Pond brought Florio across the plate for the first run of the afternoon. With the bases still loaded, Jones drove a ball deep to left-center for a double that scored two more. LaFleur loaded the bases again by walking Matt Payne, and Tommy Foschi connected on a double down the left-field line to score Pond and Jones. LaFleur hit his second batter of the afternoon, plunking David Lindsay to load the bags once more.
That was all for LaFleur. The Tribe brought in reliever Cody Winslow to finish out the first, and he proceeded to walk the first two batters he faced, Florio and Corona, which allowed Payne and Foschi to score. With the score 7-0, Wolfpack, Winslow struck out Synan, but surrendered a single to left by Howard that scored two, put Corona on third, and allowed Howard to reach second on the throw to the plate. A balk by Winslow scored Corona and put Howard on third. Pond then drove a pitch deep to right-center for an RBI-triple. Jones reached on an error by shortstop Lanny Stanfield, with Pond scoring on the play to make it 12-0.
After a scoreless second, the Pack added to its run total in the bottom of the third inning. Synan, much like he did Friday afternoon, connected on a pitch off reliever Warrick Staines that sailed over the wall in left for his second home run in as many days.
Pat Ferguson entered in for the Wolfpack in the fifth to pinch-hit for Howard and wasted no time, hitting a triple to left-center. Dallas Poulk, who entered the game defensively in the fourth inning, singled through the right side to score Ferguson, making it 14-0.
The Tribe got its best opportunity to get on the board in the top of the sixth. Gillheeney started off by walking Mike Sheridan and then surrendered a single to short by Greg Sexton. Gillheeney caught Greg Maliniak napping with a called strike three for the first out of the inning. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, but Gillheeney maintained his composure and struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning.
NC State tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Florio singled up the middle and later scored on a double to center field by pinch-hitter Bill Edwards, who entered for Synan.
Poulk led off the Wolfpack seventh by reaching on an error by second baseman James Williamson. Jones homered to left-center to make it 17-0. Tribe reliever Pete Vernon walked Payne, surrendered a single to Vince Gutierrez, and walked Florio to load the bases. Corona then connected on a shot to left-center for a grand slam, putting NC State’s lead at 21-0.
A pair of runs scored by the Pack in the eighth put the icing on the cake. Wade Moore led off with a pinch-double down the left-field line, then scored on a triple to right-center by Gutierrez. A groundout to second base by Nate Cockman scored Gutierrez.
NC State and William & Mary will wrap-up their series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Due to a conflict with women’s basketball, WKNC-FM (88.1) will not broadcast the game live, but the broadcast will be available online at gopack.com.
