North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Holds On To Take Finale at UVa, 7-6
4/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Pratt Maynard hit a two-run, opposite-field homer in the top of the ninth inning, and NC State held on for a 7-6 victory over 11th-ranked Virginia in the final game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Davenport Field.
Both teams held the lead three times, but the Wolfpack had the lead at the end of the ninth inning, making a winner of Sam Brown, the fourth of five NC State pitchers. Brown (2-0) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings on two hits. Lefty Alex Sogard got the final three outs, striking out two, for his first save of the season.
Virginia closer Kevin Arico (1-2) served up the homer to Maynard and was tagged with the loss. He worked two innings and allowed the one run on two hits, walking one and striking out two.
The victory salvages the finale of the series for the Wolfpack, which improves to 20-24 overall and 8-16 in the ACC. Virginia, which won the first two games of the series, falls to 34-9-1 overall and 13-8-1 in the conference.
Leads were short-lived throughout this game. NC State found this out right from the start, taking a lead in the top of the first. Devon Cartwright and Drew Poulk walked with one away, and Maynard made it a 1-0 game with an RBI single up the middle.
Virginia answered right away with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. With two out, Danny Hultzen singled to right and went to third on Dan Grovatt’s single through the left side of the infield. Steven Proscia grounded to third base for what should have been the third out of the inning, but Drew Martin’s throw to first was low and skipped past first baseman Pat Ferguson for an error.
The Pack took the lead back at 2-1 when Cartwright belted a one-out, line-drive solo homer into the seats in left in the top of the third.
Virginia loaded the bases with two down in the bottom half of the inning on walks to Gosselin and Proscia, sandwiched around an infield single by Hultzen. John Hicks hit a line drive to right-center field that looked as though it would split the outfielders and clear the bases, but Drew Poulk dived for the ball, laying full out, and made the catch just before hitting the ground to bail starter Joey Cutler and the Wolfpack out of the jam.
That was all for Cutler, a converted reliever who gave the Wolfpack what should have been three shutout innings. He allowed three hits and one run, but it was unearned. He walked two and struck out three before giving way to Jake Buchanan to start the bottom of the fourth.
Virginia retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Dan Grovatt hit a one-out single to left and Proscia followed with a double off the left-field wall, just over the outstretched glove of Cartwright. With runners on second and third, Hicks chopped a single up the middle, driving in both runners and giving the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead.
The Wolfpack came back in the top of the sixth, all the damage coming with two out. Ferguson beat out a bunt single and Maynard walked. Andrew Ciencin then hit a line-drive double into the gap in right-center, scoring Ferguson to tie the score at 3-3.
The tie lasted a half-inning. David Coleman led off the bottom of the sixth with a solid single to center field, and Jarrett Parker sent a ball into the right-field corner and legged it out for a triple, scoring Coleman and giving the Cavaliers the lead at 4-3. With the infield drawn in, Buchanan got Gosselin on a grounder to second base and Hultzen on a line drive to Poulk at shortstop, but Grovatt worked a nine-pitch walk and Proscia sent a Baltimore chopper over the head of Martin at third base and down the left-field line, scoring Parker to give UVa a 5-3 lead.
Chris Schaeffer led off the top of the seventh with a double off the wall in left field, and scored on Martin’s ground single up the middle. Kyle Wilson singled up the middle to put runners on first and third, and Martin scored when Cartwright grounded into a force play, tying the game at 5-5.
Tyler Cannon led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to right field. After a lightning delay of an hour and 48 minutes, Jake Kensmoe came in to pitch for the Pack. Franco Valdez bunted Cannon to second base. After an intentional walk to pinch-hitter John Barr, Parker singled through the right side of the infield. Cannon scored easily to make it 6-5 in favor of the Cavaliers, but Barr was cut down trying to advance to third on a strong throw from right fielder Drew Poulk.
Once again, the lead was short-lived. Sean Lucas went to the mound for UVa to start the top of the eighth and promptly served up an opposite-field single to left by Ferguson. After going to a 2-0 count on Maynard, Lucas looked up to see head coach Brian O’Conner approaching the mound and signalling for Arico. Maynard took Arico’s second pitch to left, over the top of the wall and off the cloth facing of the bleachers. Maynard legged out what at first appeared to be an RBI triple, but after an umpires’ conference, it was ruled a two-run homer, giving NC State A 7-6 lead.
NC State will take the next four days off for final exams. The Pack will return to action on Friday, May 1 against Campbell at Doak Field at Dail Park. Game time is 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line on gopack.com via Pack Pass.
Both teams held the lead three times, but the Wolfpack had the lead at the end of the ninth inning, making a winner of Sam Brown, the fourth of five NC State pitchers. Brown (2-0) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings on two hits. Lefty Alex Sogard got the final three outs, striking out two, for his first save of the season.
Virginia closer Kevin Arico (1-2) served up the homer to Maynard and was tagged with the loss. He worked two innings and allowed the one run on two hits, walking one and striking out two.
The victory salvages the finale of the series for the Wolfpack, which improves to 20-24 overall and 8-16 in the ACC. Virginia, which won the first two games of the series, falls to 34-9-1 overall and 13-8-1 in the conference.
Leads were short-lived throughout this game. NC State found this out right from the start, taking a lead in the top of the first. Devon Cartwright and Drew Poulk walked with one away, and Maynard made it a 1-0 game with an RBI single up the middle.
Virginia answered right away with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. With two out, Danny Hultzen singled to right and went to third on Dan Grovatt’s single through the left side of the infield. Steven Proscia grounded to third base for what should have been the third out of the inning, but Drew Martin’s throw to first was low and skipped past first baseman Pat Ferguson for an error.
The Pack took the lead back at 2-1 when Cartwright belted a one-out, line-drive solo homer into the seats in left in the top of the third.
Virginia loaded the bases with two down in the bottom half of the inning on walks to Gosselin and Proscia, sandwiched around an infield single by Hultzen. John Hicks hit a line drive to right-center field that looked as though it would split the outfielders and clear the bases, but Drew Poulk dived for the ball, laying full out, and made the catch just before hitting the ground to bail starter Joey Cutler and the Wolfpack out of the jam.
That was all for Cutler, a converted reliever who gave the Wolfpack what should have been three shutout innings. He allowed three hits and one run, but it was unearned. He walked two and struck out three before giving way to Jake Buchanan to start the bottom of the fourth.
Virginia retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Dan Grovatt hit a one-out single to left and Proscia followed with a double off the left-field wall, just over the outstretched glove of Cartwright. With runners on second and third, Hicks chopped a single up the middle, driving in both runners and giving the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead.
The Wolfpack came back in the top of the sixth, all the damage coming with two out. Ferguson beat out a bunt single and Maynard walked. Andrew Ciencin then hit a line-drive double into the gap in right-center, scoring Ferguson to tie the score at 3-3.
The tie lasted a half-inning. David Coleman led off the bottom of the sixth with a solid single to center field, and Jarrett Parker sent a ball into the right-field corner and legged it out for a triple, scoring Coleman and giving the Cavaliers the lead at 4-3. With the infield drawn in, Buchanan got Gosselin on a grounder to second base and Hultzen on a line drive to Poulk at shortstop, but Grovatt worked a nine-pitch walk and Proscia sent a Baltimore chopper over the head of Martin at third base and down the left-field line, scoring Parker to give UVa a 5-3 lead.
Chris Schaeffer led off the top of the seventh with a double off the wall in left field, and scored on Martin’s ground single up the middle. Kyle Wilson singled up the middle to put runners on first and third, and Martin scored when Cartwright grounded into a force play, tying the game at 5-5.
Tyler Cannon led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to right field. After a lightning delay of an hour and 48 minutes, Jake Kensmoe came in to pitch for the Pack. Franco Valdez bunted Cannon to second base. After an intentional walk to pinch-hitter John Barr, Parker singled through the right side of the infield. Cannon scored easily to make it 6-5 in favor of the Cavaliers, but Barr was cut down trying to advance to third on a strong throw from right fielder Drew Poulk.
Once again, the lead was short-lived. Sean Lucas went to the mound for UVa to start the top of the eighth and promptly served up an opposite-field single to left by Ferguson. After going to a 2-0 count on Maynard, Lucas looked up to see head coach Brian O’Conner approaching the mound and signalling for Arico. Maynard took Arico’s second pitch to left, over the top of the wall and off the cloth facing of the bleachers. Maynard legged out what at first appeared to be an RBI triple, but after an umpires’ conference, it was ruled a two-run homer, giving NC State A 7-6 lead.
NC State will take the next four days off for final exams. The Pack will return to action on Friday, May 1 against Campbell at Doak Field at Dail Park. Game time is 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line on gopack.com via Pack Pass.
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