North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Falls 7-5 to UNC in Series Finale
4/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
With the win, the Tar Heels won the series, two games to one, and improved to 37-10 overall, 16-8 in the ACC. The Wolfpack fell to 29-16 overall and 12-12 in the conference.
Matt Danford (3-0) got credit for the win with two innings of shutout relief. He allowed a hit, walked one and struck out two. Andrew Carnigan got the final four outs for his 10th save of the season. Andrew Taylor (2-2) allowed one run in two-thirds of an inning and was charged with the loss.
Fronk led off the game for North Carolina and worked Wolfpack starter Jimmy Gillheeney for a walk. Seth Williams hit a high fly ball to deep left, and Fronk tagged up on the play and beat left fielder Jeremy Synan’s throw to second base. Fronk’s aggressiveness paid off when Dustin Ackley singled up the middle to drive in the game’s first run. Garrett Gore’s two-out solo homer to left in the top of the second inning gave the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead.
NC State got one run back in the bottom of the third. Marcus Jones got it started by beating out a grounder to shortstop with one away. Dallas Poulk doubled to left-center to put runners on second and third, and Joe Florio’s slow roller to first base drove in Jones and cut the UNC lead to 2-1.
With two out in the bottom of the fourth, Ryan Pond drove a double to the gap in right-center, and Mike Roskopf belted a two-run home run the other way, off the scoreboard in left-center, to give NC State a 3-2 lead.
NC State’s lead lasted until the top of the sixth. Tim Federowicz led off with a bouncer up the middle that Poulk gloved, but his off-balance throw from the second-base bag pulled Pat Ferguson off the base at first. Federowicz was credited with an infield single, and Josh Horton followed him by drilling a two-run homer down the line in right field.
Caleb Mangum led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to left-center, driving UNC starter Luke Putkonen from the game. UNC coach Mike Fox brought lefthander Rob Catapano in to pitch to the lefthanded-hitting Synan, but the Wolfpack sent Tommy Foschi to pinch-hit, and he walked. That brought Matt Danford into the game to pitch. With an 0-2 count on Ramon Corona, Danford threw a wild pitch to move the runners to second and third. Corona singled through the left side to drive in Mangum with the tying run, and Danford balked home the go-ahead run with a botched pickoff attempt at third base to give NC State a 5-4 lead.
This time the Wolfpack’s lead lasted one pitch into the seventh inning. Fronk led off and sent Stallings’ first pitch over the wall in straightaway center field to tie the score at 5-5.
Tim Fedroff led off the top of the eighth with a four-pitch walk. Clayton Shunick came in for NC State to face Benji Johnson, who sacrificed Fedroff to second base. Kyle Seager grounded out to third base, but Fronk worked the count full on Shunick before unloading a two-run homer deep over the wall in left field to give the Tar Heels a 7-5 lead.
Notes: With Sunday’s crowd of 2,683, attendance for the three-game series was 8,774, which is a post-renovation stadium record for a three-game series.
NC State will be off this week for final exams. The Wolfpack will return to action on Friday for the first of a two-game non-conference series with Campbell. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be broadcast live on WKNC (88.1 FM) and on the internet on gopack.com through Pack Pass.
Tickets remain for all the Wolfpack’s remaining home games: Campbell on May 4-5, UNC Asheville on May 15, and Clemson on May 17-18-19.
