North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Trips North Carolina A&T 6-2
3/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The win for the Wolfpack snapped a two-game losing streak with the victory and improved to 11-4 on the season. The Aggies lost their third in a row and fell to 2-9. Wolfpack starter Clayton Shunick (1-1) pitched 5 2/3 strong innings, allowing one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out eight. Andrew Taylor and Eryk McConnell closed out the game for the Pack, combining to pitch 3 1/3 innings and allowing just one run on one hit between them. A&T starter Chris Eggers (2-1) got his first loss of the season despite pitching well. Eggers worked six innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits. He walked two and fanned one.
Howard had the big blow for the Pack, and Jeremy Synan went 2-for-3 and drove in a run, while Caleb Mangum went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jeremy Jones went 2-for-4 for A&T.
The Aggies wasted no time jumping on Shunick for a run in the top of the first inning. Jones hit Shunick’s third pitch of the game for a one-out double to left-center, and Charlie Gamble hit Shunick’s next pitch for an RBI-single to right-center and a 1-0 lead.
NC State tied it up with a run in the bottom half of the inning. Vince Gutierrez drew a one-out walk and Synan drove an opposite-field RBI-double up the alley and all the way to the wall in left-center field.
The Wolfpack took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second. Ryan Pond led off and dunked a single over the second baseman’s head into shallow right field. Mangum advanced Pond to second with a groundout, and Drew Martin slashed a single past the third baseman and down the left-field line, scoring Pond with the go-ahead run.
The Pack scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth. Ramon Corona led off and was hit by a pitch. A passed ball moved him to second, and Mangum singled up the middle to make ot 3-1.
Shunick and reliever Andrew Taylor took that 3-1 lead through the sixth inning. Shunick retired 14 of 15 at one point and 16 of the last 18 men he faced before giving way to Taylor with two down in the top of the sixth. Taylor ran into trouble with his command in the top of the seventh and gave up a run in the process. He walked Nelson Santos and allowed a single to left by C.J. Beatty with one down, then walked pinch-hitter Patrick Oates and Nick Mayo to force in a run and cut the Wolfpack lead to 3-2.
Joe Florio led off the bottom of the seventh, walked and stole second. Gutierrez bunted Florio to third, ad Dallas Poulk pinch-hit for Synan and walked. Howard made it back-to-back pinch-hitters for the Wolfpack, hitting for Pat Ferguson, and stroked a long three-run homer to left to give the Pack a 6-2 lead.
NC State will begin conference play this weekend with a home series against Maryland. Gamem times are 3 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC (88.1 FM) and on the internet on gopack.com through Pack Pass.
