North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Defeats WF 13-7 in Offensive Showcase
3/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Drew Poulk homered, scored three runs, and drove in three more and Wade Moore also homered and drove in three to highlight a big day of offense as NC State defeated Wake Forest 13-7 in the final game of a three-game ACC series at the Wake Forest Baseball Park on Sunday.
NC State improves to 12-10 overall and 3-6 in the ACC. Wake Forest falls to 10-10 and 1-8 in ACC play.
With the help of a season-high five doubles and a six-run fifth inning, the Wolfpack hit double digits in runs for the second straight game, spreading out plenty of offense to put away the Demon Deacons. John Lambert (1-1) got the victory with three innings of work in relief. Lambert allowed three runs on two hits for the Pack. He struck out three and walked one. Sam Brown started and went three innings, scattering three hits and allowing three runs. Wake Forest starter Phil Negus took the loss. He allowed seven runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked three. Negus falls to 1-2 on the season.
Wake Forest touched the scoreboard first in the opening inning. Steven Brooks led off with a double into the left-field corner. After stealing third, he came in to score on a Dustin Hood groundout to take an early 1-0 lead.
NC State knotted the score at one in the second. Drew Poulk reached base on a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Poulk advanced to third when Hood mishandled a ground ball at second base off the bat of Pat Ferguson. Andrew Ciencin brought Poulk home on a force play to tie the game.
The Demon Deacons grabbed the lead back in the home half of the second. Austin Stadler led off the inning with a single, and advanced to third when Brown fielded a comebacker from Shane Kroker and threw the ball into the outfield for an error. Evan Ocheltree brought Stadler home on a groundout to short to put Wake Forest back on top, 2-1.
The Wolfpack used a big two-out rally in the fifth inning to claim its first lead of the game. Wade Moore reached on a force play to start things, then came around to score when Drew Martin singled. Consecutive doubles by Dallas Poulk, Kyle Wilson, and Pratt Maynard extended the NC State lead to 5-2. Drew Poulk gave NC State further insurance when he lofted his second home run of the season to right field, a two-run shot to put the Wolfpack up, 7-2.
NC State used speed on the bases in the seventh to push the lead to eight. Wilson reached on an error and later came around to score when Drew Poulk lined a single to left. The RBI single gave Poulk three RBIs on the afternoon. Pinch-hitter John Gianis followed with a single to center to put runners on first and third with one out. Wake Forest reliever Michael Dimock appeared to have Gianis picked off at first, but the Deacons botched the ensuing rundown, allowing Poulk to steal home to put NC State up 9-2. Gianis advanced to second on the play. Andrew Ciencin tacked on another run for the Wolfpack on a bloop double down the right field line, scoring Gianis.
Wake Forest chipped away at the lead with a three-run inning of its own in the bottom of the seventh. The Demon Deacons loaded the bases on a single and two walks against reliever John Lambert. Following a pitching change, Joey Cutler came on and surrendered an RBI groundout to pinch-hitter Ryan Semeniuk to close the score to 10-3. After a strikeout, Hood drove in the fourth Wake Forest run with an RBI single to left. The NC State lead shrunk to five when Mike Murray doubled to the left-field gap driving in Evan Ocheltree. Cutler ended further damage by striking out Carlos Lopez to end the inning with NC State up 10-5 through seven innings of play.
The Demon Deacons further cut into the Wolfpack lead with a two-out rally in the bottom half of the eighth inning. NC State appeared to be out of the inning, but a dropped foul ball by catcher Pratt Maynard extended the inning for Wake Forest. Shake Kroker took advantage of the miscue by lining a single to right. Ocheltree followed with a single to put two runners on base for the Deacs. Semeniuk tightened the score when he poked an RBI-double down the left field line to score both Kroker and Ocheltree to come within 10-7.
The Wolfpack quickly got those runs back in the top of the ninth. Ferguson reached base on a single up the middle. Ciencin was hit by a Ryan McGrath pitch, chasing McGrath from the game. Zach White came on for Wake Forest to try and limit the damage, but Wade Moore greeted him loudly with a three-run home run to right field, sending the ball onto the nearby freeway to give NC State a 13-7 lead. The home run was Moore’s fourth on the season.
NC State will return to action on Tuesday with a home game vs. UNC Greensboro. Game time is 6:30 p.m. WKNC-FM (88.1) will broadcast the game live, and the broadcast will be available on-line at gopack.com.
