North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Falls At UNCW 8-4
5/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WILMINGTON, N.C. Mark Carver homered, doubled and drove in three runs and three UNC Wilmington pitchers scattered six Wednesday night to lead the Seahawks to an 8-4 college baseball victory over NC State at Brooks Field. UNCW won its sixth game in a row and evened its record at 25-25. The Wolfpack, a team trying to nail down a bid to the NCAA Tournament, lost for the third time in its last five games and dropped to 31-17.
Carver went 3-for-3 to lead the Seahawks, who collected 12 hits off of five different NC State pitchers. Grayson Evans, Jason Appel and Steve Halford had two hits apiece, and Jonathan Batts drove in a pair of runs. Dallas Poulk went 3-for-5 with an RBI to lead NC State. Ramon Corona went 2-for-5 and drove in two runs.
Evans led off the bottom of the third and pulled a first-pitch double down the right-field line, and Appel hit NC State starter Sam Brown’s next pitch to shallow center field for a bloop single that put runners on first and third with none out. Brown picked Appel off first base, but Halford drove in Evans with a grounder to shortstop that Corona booted for an error. Carver followed with a two-run home run to straightaway center field, giving the Seahawks a 3-0 lead. That was all for Brown (1-1), who took the loss after allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Clayton Shunick came in to pitch for the Wolfpack, but he walked Batts and gave up a Baltimore-chop single to Daniel Hargrave to put runners on first and second. Jes Snyder hit a tailor-made double-play ball to Corona at shortstop, but first baseman Pat Ferguson couldn’t handle Poulk’s relay throw, leaving runners on first and third with two out. That wound up costing the Wolfpack a run. With Nate Hall at the plate, Snyder intentionally got picked off first base, and in the subsequent rundown Batts was able to steal home and give the Seahawks a 4-0 lead. Shunick struck out Hall on the next pitch for the final out of the inning.
UNCW starter Andrew Morgan gave up his first run in the top of the fourth. Caleb Mangum went the other way with a pitch and drove it off the top of the wall in right-center field for a triple. Mike Roskopf made it 4-1 with a grounder to third base, driving in Mangum.
Evans reached on a one-out single to center field and Appel laid down a perfect bunt to the left of the mound and beat it out for a single to put runners on first and second with one away. Shunick struck out Halford for the second out, but Carver roped a double down the line in left to drive in Evans. Batts followed with a fly ball to left that should have retired the side. Instead, the ball fell untouched behind Matt Payne, who lost it in the lights for a two-run double and a 7-1 UNCW lead. Joey Cutler came in for the Wolfpack and retired Hargrave on a groundout for the final out.
Marcus Jones and Ferguson led off the top of the fifth with walks, giving the Wolfpack baserunners with no outs for the first time in the game. Ryan Howard pinch-hit for Drew Martin and Cody Dickens came in to pitch for UNCW. That prompted the Wolfpack to send up Jeremy Synan, a lefthanded hitter, to hit for Howard. Synan forced Ferguson at second base on a grounder to the third baseman, and Poulk popped to shortstop for the second out. Corona finally cashed in the runner on third with a double into the left-field corner, trimming the UNCW lead by a run, 7-2.
Hall got that run back with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fifth with a long solo homer to center field.
Dickens wound up working four shutout innings to even his record at 2-2. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two before turning the 8-2 lead over to Larry Salefsky in the top of the ninth. Salefsky got off to a rocky start by hitting pinch-hitter Vince Gutierrez with a pitch. After a pair of groundouts, Synan walked, and back-to-back groundouts by Poulk and Corona snaked through the infield to drive in runs and cut the final defict to 8-4.
NC State will return to action this weekend at Virginia for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday, 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC, 88.1 FM, and will be available on-line on gopack.com through Pack Pass.
Carver went 3-for-3 to lead the Seahawks, who collected 12 hits off of five different NC State pitchers. Grayson Evans, Jason Appel and Steve Halford had two hits apiece, and Jonathan Batts drove in a pair of runs. Dallas Poulk went 3-for-5 with an RBI to lead NC State. Ramon Corona went 2-for-5 and drove in two runs.
Evans led off the bottom of the third and pulled a first-pitch double down the right-field line, and Appel hit NC State starter Sam Brown’s next pitch to shallow center field for a bloop single that put runners on first and third with none out. Brown picked Appel off first base, but Halford drove in Evans with a grounder to shortstop that Corona booted for an error. Carver followed with a two-run home run to straightaway center field, giving the Seahawks a 3-0 lead. That was all for Brown (1-1), who took the loss after allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Clayton Shunick came in to pitch for the Wolfpack, but he walked Batts and gave up a Baltimore-chop single to Daniel Hargrave to put runners on first and second. Jes Snyder hit a tailor-made double-play ball to Corona at shortstop, but first baseman Pat Ferguson couldn’t handle Poulk’s relay throw, leaving runners on first and third with two out. That wound up costing the Wolfpack a run. With Nate Hall at the plate, Snyder intentionally got picked off first base, and in the subsequent rundown Batts was able to steal home and give the Seahawks a 4-0 lead. Shunick struck out Hall on the next pitch for the final out of the inning.
UNCW starter Andrew Morgan gave up his first run in the top of the fourth. Caleb Mangum went the other way with a pitch and drove it off the top of the wall in right-center field for a triple. Mike Roskopf made it 4-1 with a grounder to third base, driving in Mangum.
Evans reached on a one-out single to center field and Appel laid down a perfect bunt to the left of the mound and beat it out for a single to put runners on first and second with one away. Shunick struck out Halford for the second out, but Carver roped a double down the line in left to drive in Evans. Batts followed with a fly ball to left that should have retired the side. Instead, the ball fell untouched behind Matt Payne, who lost it in the lights for a two-run double and a 7-1 UNCW lead. Joey Cutler came in for the Wolfpack and retired Hargrave on a groundout for the final out.
Marcus Jones and Ferguson led off the top of the fifth with walks, giving the Wolfpack baserunners with no outs for the first time in the game. Ryan Howard pinch-hit for Drew Martin and Cody Dickens came in to pitch for UNCW. That prompted the Wolfpack to send up Jeremy Synan, a lefthanded hitter, to hit for Howard. Synan forced Ferguson at second base on a grounder to the third baseman, and Poulk popped to shortstop for the second out. Corona finally cashed in the runner on third with a double into the left-field corner, trimming the UNCW lead by a run, 7-2.
Hall got that run back with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fifth with a long solo homer to center field.
Dickens wound up working four shutout innings to even his record at 2-2. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two before turning the 8-2 lead over to Larry Salefsky in the top of the ninth. Salefsky got off to a rocky start by hitting pinch-hitter Vince Gutierrez with a pitch. After a pair of groundouts, Synan walked, and back-to-back groundouts by Poulk and Corona snaked through the infield to drive in runs and cut the final defict to 8-4.
NC State will return to action this weekend at Virginia for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday, 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC, 88.1 FM, and will be available on-line on gopack.com through Pack Pass.
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