North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball Slips Past Miami 5-3 In 13
4/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The game was the first of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series between the Wolfpack and Hurricanes. NC State improved to 25-10 overall and 10-6 in the ACC. Miami, which committed five errors and left 12 runners on base, dropped to 21-15 overall and 7-9 in the conference.
Jeff Stallings (3-0), the last of four Wolfpack pitchers, got the win with two innings of shutout relief work. He allowed one hit, struck out two and did not issue a walk. Alex Koronis (3-2), the sixth Miami pitcher of the game, took the loss after allowing two runs on no hits in 1 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two.
Eric Surkamp started for NC State and took his sixth no-decision of the season despite nursing a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning. He wound up allowing three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out eight. In his six no-decisions, Surkamp has allowed 16 earned runs on 36 hits in 39 innings (3.69 ERA), with nine walks and 38 strikeouts.
The Wolfpack picked up an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Marcus Jones stroked a one-out single up the middle and was safe at second when shortstop Ryan Jackson dropped the feed on a potential double-play grounder by Pat Ferguson. Matt Payne moved the runners to second and third with a grounder to shortstop, and Dallas Poulk drove in Jones with a single to right. Ferguson was cut down at the plate for the final out of the inning.
Drew Martin led off the top of the third with a grounder to first that Yonder Alonso kicked for an error. Vince Gutierrez bunted Martin to second, and Caleb Mangum made it 3-0 with a two-run home run to left field.
Right fielder Dennis Rabin, who went on to pitch two different stints in the game before finishing the game in right field, broke up Surkamp’s shutout bid with one swing in the bottom of the fourth inning, belting a long one-out solo homer to right field,
Surkamp retired 10 of the next 12 batters he faced before the Hurricanes tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. Surkamp retired the first two hitters without incident, but Blake Tekotte singled up the middle and Roger Tomas singled to center to put runners on first and second. Andrew Taylor came in to face lefty-hitting Yonder Alonso, but walked him on four pitches to load the bases. Eryk McConnell then got the call and walked Mark Sobolewski to force in a run and cut the lead to 3-2. Gus Menendez followed with a rocket that took a wicked hop off Ferguson at first base for a single that drove in Tomas to tie the game at 3-3.
And so the game remained for the next five innings, during which time McConnell battled Miami relievers David Gutierrez, Rabin and Danny Gil. McConnell set down 13 of the next 15 men he faced before turning the game over to Stallings. Miami’s bullpen, meanwhile, retired 13 of 14 NC State hitters over the same stretch before the Wolfpack won the game in the top of the 13th.
Gutierrez led off the inning with a walk. Koronis balked on a pickoff attempt, but threw the ball past Alonso at first base for a throwing error that took precedence over the balk. Gutierrez went all the way to third on the play. Tomas, the second baseman, recovered the ball near the Miami bullpen and threw the ball way past third base and down the third-base line, allowing Gutierrez to score the go-ahead run. Ramon Corona drew a one-out walk, then stole second on strike three to Pond. Teddy Kaufman came in to pitch for the Canes, and Florio welcomed him to the game with an RBI-double off the wall in right field, driving in Corona to make it 5-3, Wolfpack.
Stallings set down the Hurricanes 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to nail down the victory.
NC State and Miami will play the second game of their series on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game \will be broadcast live on WKNC, 88.1 FM, and will be available on-line on gopack.com through Pack Pass.
