North Carolina State University Athletics
Hurricanes Complete Sweep of Wolfpack, 9-7
3/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - NC State had a big inning early and Miami had a big inning late. In this case, late beat early. Miami’s seven-run fifth inning lifted the Hurricanes past the Wolfpack 9-7 in the final game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
Miami swept the series and improved to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. NC State fell to 7-5 and 0-3.
Early on, it appeared to be NC State’s day. After being shut out on three hits on Saturday night, the Wolfpack shook up the bat rack Sunday and came out swining against Miami starter Iden Nazario, scoring five in the top of the second. Harold Riggins got things started with a one-out double to left field, and Andrew Ciencin put runners on first and third with a sharply struck single through left side of the infield. Drew Martin got Riggins home with a squeeze bunt, and all hands were safe when first baseman Harold Martinez booted the ball for an error. Devon Cartwright and Wade Moore followed with back-to-back home runs, Cartwright’s a three-run shot and Moore’s his second long ball of the weekend.
Pratt Maynard, who led off the second inning with a long fly ball to right-center, walked to lead off the third. Riggins ripped a single through the box and into center field to put runners on first and second and drive Nozario from the game. Jason Santana came in to pitch for the Hurricanes, and Ciencin bunted Riggins and Maynard to second and third, respectively. Santana got Martin to ground out to shortstop Ryan Jackson, but Cartwright rolled a two-out grounder just under Jackson’s glove and into left field to score both runners and push the NC State lead to 7-0. The two RBIs gave Cartwright five for the game, a new career high. The two runs went on Nozario’s ledger, which revealed two-plus innings pitched, seven runs allowed on six hits, one walk and one strikeout.
The rest of the Miami pitching staff was not so easy. Santana, Sam Robinson, Taylor Wulf and Kyle Bellamy combined to shut the Wolfpack out for the final seven innings on three hits. Santana (1-0) worked 3 2/3 innings and got credit for the win. Bellamy got the final four outs for his fourth save.
Stymied through three innings by Sogard, Miami began to stir to life in the fourth, nicking the Wolfpack lefthander for a run. Scott Lawson led off and walked. With one down, Jason Hagerty tripled to right-center to drive in Lawson with the Hurricane’s first run of the game. Sogard recovered to strike out Martinez and Chris Herrmann, stranding Hagerty at third base.
The wheels came off the wagon for Sogard and the Wolfpack in the fifth as the Hurricanes erupted for seven runs to take an 8-7 lead. Yasmani Grandal belted a one-out solo homer to left. Jonathan Weislow walked. Nathan Melendres singled up the middle, sending Weislow to third and bringing NC State pitching coach Tom Holliday out of the dugout.
John Lambert (0-1) came in to pitch for the Wolfpack, and Lawson greeted him with a bloop single to shallow right field to drive in Weislow and cut the lead to 7-3. Jackson followed with a single through the left side of the infield to score Melendres, and Hagerty drove in Lawson with an RBI-groundout to make it 7-5. Martinez singled to left to drive in Jackson and make it a one-run game.
Things only got worse for NC State from there. Martinez took second on a wild pitch. When Maynard couldn’t find the ball, Martinez too a wide turn at second. Maynard made a strong throw to the second, but the throw sailed and went into right-center field for an error allowing Martinez to advance to third. Herrmann hit a roller up the first-base line that should have been the last out of the inning, but the ball hit the bag and trickled into foul ground. Neither Lambert nor Riggins could make a play and Herrman was safe with a freak single. Martinez scored the tying run on the play, and DiNatale, batting for the second time in the inning, doubled to left-center to score Herrmann all the way from first base and give Miami the lead at 8-7.
The Hurricanes added a run in the bottom of the eighth. Gandal reached on an error, went to second on Weislow’s sacrifice bunt, took third on a single by Melendres, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lawson.
NC State will return to action with home midweek games this Tuesday and Wednesday. The Wolfpack will welcome George Mason to Doak Field at Dail Park on Tuesday, March 10, for a 3 p.m. game. North Carolina A&T will come to the Doak on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. game, the first home night game of 2009. This game is the makeup of the March 1 game that was snowed out. WKNC-FM (88.1) will broadcast both games live. The broadcasts will be available on-line at gopack.com through the Pack Pass Package.
Miami swept the series and improved to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. NC State fell to 7-5 and 0-3.
Early on, it appeared to be NC State’s day. After being shut out on three hits on Saturday night, the Wolfpack shook up the bat rack Sunday and came out swining against Miami starter Iden Nazario, scoring five in the top of the second. Harold Riggins got things started with a one-out double to left field, and Andrew Ciencin put runners on first and third with a sharply struck single through left side of the infield. Drew Martin got Riggins home with a squeeze bunt, and all hands were safe when first baseman Harold Martinez booted the ball for an error. Devon Cartwright and Wade Moore followed with back-to-back home runs, Cartwright’s a three-run shot and Moore’s his second long ball of the weekend.
Pratt Maynard, who led off the second inning with a long fly ball to right-center, walked to lead off the third. Riggins ripped a single through the box and into center field to put runners on first and second and drive Nozario from the game. Jason Santana came in to pitch for the Hurricanes, and Ciencin bunted Riggins and Maynard to second and third, respectively. Santana got Martin to ground out to shortstop Ryan Jackson, but Cartwright rolled a two-out grounder just under Jackson’s glove and into left field to score both runners and push the NC State lead to 7-0. The two RBIs gave Cartwright five for the game, a new career high. The two runs went on Nozario’s ledger, which revealed two-plus innings pitched, seven runs allowed on six hits, one walk and one strikeout.
The rest of the Miami pitching staff was not so easy. Santana, Sam Robinson, Taylor Wulf and Kyle Bellamy combined to shut the Wolfpack out for the final seven innings on three hits. Santana (1-0) worked 3 2/3 innings and got credit for the win. Bellamy got the final four outs for his fourth save.
Stymied through three innings by Sogard, Miami began to stir to life in the fourth, nicking the Wolfpack lefthander for a run. Scott Lawson led off and walked. With one down, Jason Hagerty tripled to right-center to drive in Lawson with the Hurricane’s first run of the game. Sogard recovered to strike out Martinez and Chris Herrmann, stranding Hagerty at third base.
The wheels came off the wagon for Sogard and the Wolfpack in the fifth as the Hurricanes erupted for seven runs to take an 8-7 lead. Yasmani Grandal belted a one-out solo homer to left. Jonathan Weislow walked. Nathan Melendres singled up the middle, sending Weislow to third and bringing NC State pitching coach Tom Holliday out of the dugout.
John Lambert (0-1) came in to pitch for the Wolfpack, and Lawson greeted him with a bloop single to shallow right field to drive in Weislow and cut the lead to 7-3. Jackson followed with a single through the left side of the infield to score Melendres, and Hagerty drove in Lawson with an RBI-groundout to make it 7-5. Martinez singled to left to drive in Jackson and make it a one-run game.
Things only got worse for NC State from there. Martinez took second on a wild pitch. When Maynard couldn’t find the ball, Martinez too a wide turn at second. Maynard made a strong throw to the second, but the throw sailed and went into right-center field for an error allowing Martinez to advance to third. Herrmann hit a roller up the first-base line that should have been the last out of the inning, but the ball hit the bag and trickled into foul ground. Neither Lambert nor Riggins could make a play and Herrman was safe with a freak single. Martinez scored the tying run on the play, and DiNatale, batting for the second time in the inning, doubled to left-center to score Herrmann all the way from first base and give Miami the lead at 8-7.
The Hurricanes added a run in the bottom of the eighth. Gandal reached on an error, went to second on Weislow’s sacrifice bunt, took third on a single by Melendres, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lawson.
NC State will return to action with home midweek games this Tuesday and Wednesday. The Wolfpack will welcome George Mason to Doak Field at Dail Park on Tuesday, March 10, for a 3 p.m. game. North Carolina A&T will come to the Doak on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. game, the first home night game of 2009. This game is the makeup of the March 1 game that was snowed out. WKNC-FM (88.1) will broadcast both games live. The broadcasts will be available on-line at gopack.com through the Pack Pass Package.
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