North Carolina State University Athletics
Pitching Shuts Down No. 24 East Carolina, 4-3
4/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. Sunday’s rainout against North Carolina in Cary had unintended consequences for NC State’s game Tuesday against No. 24 East Carolina. The rainout meant that Eryk McConnell, the Wolfpack’s normal Sunday pitcher, was available to face the Pirates on Tuesday, and McConnell and three of the Pack’s front-line relievers combined to defeat the Pirates 4-3 at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
McConnell, Joey Cutler, Drew Taylor and Jimmy Gillheeney each turned in a strong pitching performance, and the Wolfpack needed it against the 24th-ranked Pirates, who entered the game batting .327 as a team and were scoring more than nine runs per game. McConnell (3-1) worked the first five innings and allowed just one run on six hits, and he worked out of some hot spots. ECU had runners on second and third with one down in the second, but McConnell retired Broc Sutton on a pop-up and struck out Jamie Ray to end the inning. In the fourth, Kyle Roller reached on a force play and scored on a groundout by Dustin Harrington, who stole second. McConnell avoided further trouble by setting down Sutton on a ground ball to second base. East Carolina loaded the bases with two down in the fifth, but Roller bounced to shortstop to end the threat.
The Wolfpack gave McConnell a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on a bases-loaded double play off the bat of Dallas Poulk and an RBI single by Ryan Pond. Pond and Matt Payne added back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth to lift NC State to a 4-1 lead.
McConnell gave way to righthander Joey Cutler to start the sixth inning, and Cutler entered the game with guns blazing. He struck out the side in the sixth, then struck out two more in the seventh. He ran into trouble of his own making in the bottom of the eighth when Stephen Batts led off with a grounder to second base. Pond, playing first, broke for the ball and was unable to cover the bag, and Batts beat Cutler to the base for an infield single. Corey Kemp followed with a two-run homer to right, trimming the lead to a single run at 4-3.
That was it for Cutler. Drew Taylor came in and restored order, setting down the side on three straight ground balls.
Jimmy Gillheeney, the Wolfpack’s closer, worked the ninth for his seventh save. Pinch-hitter Justin Bristow led off and popped to second base, and Gillheeney struck out Ray looking. Harrison Eldridge worked Gillheeney for a walk, but was caught leaning too far off the bag and Gillheeney picked him off for the game-ending out.
NC State will return to action on Wednesday against Elon at Doak Field at Dail Park. Game time is 6:30 p.m. The game will be webcast for free to all listeners on gopack.com through Pack Pass, but will not be aired on radio due to the women’s basketball team’s play in the WNIT.
McConnell, Joey Cutler, Drew Taylor and Jimmy Gillheeney each turned in a strong pitching performance, and the Wolfpack needed it against the 24th-ranked Pirates, who entered the game batting .327 as a team and were scoring more than nine runs per game. McConnell (3-1) worked the first five innings and allowed just one run on six hits, and he worked out of some hot spots. ECU had runners on second and third with one down in the second, but McConnell retired Broc Sutton on a pop-up and struck out Jamie Ray to end the inning. In the fourth, Kyle Roller reached on a force play and scored on a groundout by Dustin Harrington, who stole second. McConnell avoided further trouble by setting down Sutton on a ground ball to second base. East Carolina loaded the bases with two down in the fifth, but Roller bounced to shortstop to end the threat.
The Wolfpack gave McConnell a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on a bases-loaded double play off the bat of Dallas Poulk and an RBI single by Ryan Pond. Pond and Matt Payne added back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth to lift NC State to a 4-1 lead.
McConnell gave way to righthander Joey Cutler to start the sixth inning, and Cutler entered the game with guns blazing. He struck out the side in the sixth, then struck out two more in the seventh. He ran into trouble of his own making in the bottom of the eighth when Stephen Batts led off with a grounder to second base. Pond, playing first, broke for the ball and was unable to cover the bag, and Batts beat Cutler to the base for an infield single. Corey Kemp followed with a two-run homer to right, trimming the lead to a single run at 4-3.
That was it for Cutler. Drew Taylor came in and restored order, setting down the side on three straight ground balls.
Jimmy Gillheeney, the Wolfpack’s closer, worked the ninth for his seventh save. Pinch-hitter Justin Bristow led off and popped to second base, and Gillheeney struck out Ray looking. Harrison Eldridge worked Gillheeney for a walk, but was caught leaning too far off the bag and Gillheeney picked him off for the game-ending out.
NC State will return to action on Wednesday against Elon at Doak Field at Dail Park. Game time is 6:30 p.m. The game will be webcast for free to all listeners on gopack.com through Pack Pass, but will not be aired on radio due to the women’s basketball team’s play in the WNIT.
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