North Carolina State University Athletics
No. 3 Virginia Defeats Baseball Following Suspension, 4-2
5/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The game, which began Friday night, was suspended in the bottom of the eighth inning due to rain and lightning. At the time, the Cavaliers had the go-ahead run in Canon, who led off the inning with a triple off the wall in right field, at third base with none out. Jeff Stallings had come in to pitch in relief of starter and losing pitcher Eric Surkamp (4-3) and was making his warmup pitches when play was halted. When play resumed, Stallings’ second pitch to pinch-hitter John Scaglione bounced several feet in front of catcher Caleb Mangum and skipped to the backstop for a wild pitch, allowing Canon to score the go-ahead run. Scaglione flied to left for the first out, but Farrell, batting for Greg Miclat, hit the first pitch he saw way down the left-field line for a solo home run to make it 4-2.
The game started out as a tight battle of starting pitchers. Virginia’s Jacob Thompson entered the game 10-0 with an ERA of 1.38 and allowed two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out three. Surkamp outpitched Thompson, working into the eighth inning and allowing three runs, two of them earned, on just three hits in seven-plus innings. He left the game with the score tied at 2-2 but with the lead run at third base. Surkamp walked two and struck out three.
The Cavaliers scored first, picking up two runs, one of them unearned, in the bottom of the fifth. Surkamp jumped ahead of David Adams 0-and-2, then walked him on six pitches. Beau Seabury singled to right to put runners on first and second. Patrick Wingfield laid down a sacrifice bunt along the third-base line, but Surkamp went for the out at third instead. His throw was late and went past third baseman Drew Martin and into foul territory down the left-field line. Adams scored from second base on the play, and Wingfield and Seabury wound up on second and third, respectively. Cannon’s sacrifice fly to right scored Seabury and sent Wingfield to third. That made it 2-0, but Surkamp got out of further trouble by retiring Mike Mitchell on a fly ball to right field. Wingfield tried to score on the play, but was cut down at the plate by right fielder Ryan Pond.
The Wolfpack came right back in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of wildness on the part of Virginia starter Jacob Thompson. With one away, Thompson issued consecutive walks to Ramon Corona, Jeremy Synan and Pond to load the bases. Thompson jammed Mike Roskopf and got him to pop up to shortstop for the second out, but Mangum singled up the middle to drive in two runs and tie the game at 2-2.
