North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Upends Clemson 6-5 On Poulk Blast
5/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. Freshman Dallas Poulk hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night to lift NC State past Clemson 6-5 in the second game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series at Doak Field at Dail Park.
NC State has won the first two games of the series, winning 11-4 on Thursday. The Wolfpack has won five games in a row and four in a row in conference play to improve to 36-18 overall and 16-13 in the ACC. Clemson fell to 35-20 overall and 17-12 in the conference.
Poulk’s blast made a winner out of fellow freshman Sam Brown (2-1), who got the final out in the top of the ninth. Clemson reliever Alan Farina (4-3) worked two innings and gave up just two runs, home runs to the first and last batter he faced, to take the loss. Farina allowed three hits in all, walked three and struck out four.
Poulk had two hits in four at-bats to extend his current hitting streak to 10 games, which ties for the longest hitting streak on the team this season. Marcus Jones also had two hits for the Wolfpack, while Mike Roskopf had a two-run homer. Addison Johnson had a pair of hits for the Tigers, and Taylor Harbin had a home run and three RBIs.
Wolfpack starter Eric Surkamp, the first of five NC State pitchers, began the game with literally untouchable stuff. He struck out the first five men he faced, and eight of the first 10. The Tigers finally started to put the ball in play against Surkamp in the top of the fourth inning and picked up a pair of runs. Wilson Boyd led off with a single to center field and Marquez Smith beat out a bunt for a single, putting runners on first and second with none out. Andy D’Alessio sacrificed the runners to second and third, and Harbin drove in the game’s first run with a groundout to second base, with Smith taking third on the play. Doug Hogan walked, and the Wolfpack botched the subsequent rundown after Surkamp picked Hogan off of first base. Smith scored and Hogan was safe at second base on the double steal.
NC State wasted little time knotting the score at 2-2. With one down, Ryan Pond walked and Roskopf took a fastball down and in and drove it up and out for a two-run home run to right field. The Pack was not finished. Caleb Mangum followed and was out by a hair trying for a bunt single, but Jeremy Synan singled up the middle and Marcus Jones singled up the middle. Pat Ferguson drove in Synan with a sharp single up the middle to give the Wolfpack a 3-2 lead.
The Pack added another run in the bottom of the fifth. Pond belted a one-out double off the wall in left, went to third on a groundout by Roskopf and scored on a wild pitch.
Clemson came back to tie the game in the top of the sixth on Harbin’s two-run homer to right field. Surkamp was lifted following the sixth after allowing four runs on six hits. He walked one and tied his career high with nine strikeouts. He wound up with his seventh no-decision of the season and is still 4-3 despite a 2.94 ERA for the season.
Andrew Taylor came in to pitch for the Wolfpack and Clemson immediately took the lead. Johnson led off with a double down the right-field line, went to third on a passed ball and scored on J.D. Burgess’s Baltimore-chop single over the drawn-in infield.
Starter David Kopp worked six solid innings for the Tigers, allowing four runs on six hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. He left the game after six innings holding a 5-4 lead, but that didn’t last long. Farina came in to pitch for Clemson in the bottom of the seventh and Tommy Foschi greeted him with a solo home run to left field, tying the score at 5-5.
Poulk, who walked against Farina in the seventh inning, apparently saw enough in that plate appearance to expect a fastball when he came to the plate to lead off the ninth. He got his fastball on the first pitch and drove it off the top of the fence and out of the ballpark for the game-winning home run, his first long ball as a collegian.
NC State and Clemson will play the final game of this weekend’s three-game series on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and the radio broadcast will be available live on-line at gopack.com through Pack Pass. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.
NC State has won the first two games of the series, winning 11-4 on Thursday. The Wolfpack has won five games in a row and four in a row in conference play to improve to 36-18 overall and 16-13 in the ACC. Clemson fell to 35-20 overall and 17-12 in the conference.
Poulk’s blast made a winner out of fellow freshman Sam Brown (2-1), who got the final out in the top of the ninth. Clemson reliever Alan Farina (4-3) worked two innings and gave up just two runs, home runs to the first and last batter he faced, to take the loss. Farina allowed three hits in all, walked three and struck out four.
Poulk had two hits in four at-bats to extend his current hitting streak to 10 games, which ties for the longest hitting streak on the team this season. Marcus Jones also had two hits for the Wolfpack, while Mike Roskopf had a two-run homer. Addison Johnson had a pair of hits for the Tigers, and Taylor Harbin had a home run and three RBIs.
Wolfpack starter Eric Surkamp, the first of five NC State pitchers, began the game with literally untouchable stuff. He struck out the first five men he faced, and eight of the first 10. The Tigers finally started to put the ball in play against Surkamp in the top of the fourth inning and picked up a pair of runs. Wilson Boyd led off with a single to center field and Marquez Smith beat out a bunt for a single, putting runners on first and second with none out. Andy D’Alessio sacrificed the runners to second and third, and Harbin drove in the game’s first run with a groundout to second base, with Smith taking third on the play. Doug Hogan walked, and the Wolfpack botched the subsequent rundown after Surkamp picked Hogan off of first base. Smith scored and Hogan was safe at second base on the double steal.
NC State wasted little time knotting the score at 2-2. With one down, Ryan Pond walked and Roskopf took a fastball down and in and drove it up and out for a two-run home run to right field. The Pack was not finished. Caleb Mangum followed and was out by a hair trying for a bunt single, but Jeremy Synan singled up the middle and Marcus Jones singled up the middle. Pat Ferguson drove in Synan with a sharp single up the middle to give the Wolfpack a 3-2 lead.
The Pack added another run in the bottom of the fifth. Pond belted a one-out double off the wall in left, went to third on a groundout by Roskopf and scored on a wild pitch.
Clemson came back to tie the game in the top of the sixth on Harbin’s two-run homer to right field. Surkamp was lifted following the sixth after allowing four runs on six hits. He walked one and tied his career high with nine strikeouts. He wound up with his seventh no-decision of the season and is still 4-3 despite a 2.94 ERA for the season.
Andrew Taylor came in to pitch for the Wolfpack and Clemson immediately took the lead. Johnson led off with a double down the right-field line, went to third on a passed ball and scored on J.D. Burgess’s Baltimore-chop single over the drawn-in infield.
Starter David Kopp worked six solid innings for the Tigers, allowing four runs on six hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. He left the game after six innings holding a 5-4 lead, but that didn’t last long. Farina came in to pitch for Clemson in the bottom of the seventh and Tommy Foschi greeted him with a solo home run to left field, tying the score at 5-5.
Poulk, who walked against Farina in the seventh inning, apparently saw enough in that plate appearance to expect a fastball when he came to the plate to lead off the ninth. He got his fastball on the first pitch and drove it off the top of the fence and out of the ballpark for the game-winning home run, his first long ball as a collegian.
NC State and Clemson will play the final game of this weekend’s three-game series on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and the radio broadcast will be available live on-line at gopack.com through Pack Pass. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.
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