North Carolina State University Athletics
Russell Wilson's Bomb Lifts Baseball Past #3 UC Irvine
2/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Drew Poulk hit a pair of doubles and drove in the Wolfpack’s first run of the game.
Cory Mazzoni pitched like former first-round draft pick Corey Lee, scattering two hits, both infield singles, and allowing no earned runs in six sterling innings on the mound.
Andrew Ciencin, held to a rare hitless performance at the plate, turned in three Gold Glove plays in the field.
The bullpen recovered from a sub-par outing Tuesday vs. Campbell to limit the Anteaters to two runs in four innings.
Rob Chamra got a huge out in the top of the 10th and was the winning pitcher in NC State’s second extra-inning victory in as many games.
Danny Canela traded in the goat’s horns for a huge pair of hero’s wings with a two-out, two-run double to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th.
And Russell Wilson threw an 80-yard touchdown pass as time expired.
Okay, okay. That last one is merely a metaphor. You know what we’re talking about here. Wilson’s 400-foot, three-run homer to left-center field lifted the Wolfpack past previously unbeaten UCI and kept the Pack unbeaten at 5-0.
NC State overcame four errors and some stout pitching from UCI starter Christian Bergman, who allowed just two runs on six hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out five, but was clearly outpitched by Mazzoni, who allowed two runs, both unearned, on two infield singles. Mazzoni walked two and fanned four.
Given the quality performances turned in by the starting pitchers, it’s no surprise that the game went to extra innings tied at 2-2.
Canela led off the bottom of the second inning for the Wolfpack and pulled a double inside the first-base line and into the right-field corner. Poulk followed with a booming line drive over the head of center fielder Jordan Fox, scoring Canela with the game’s first run. John Gianis moved Poulk to third base with a groundout, but Bergman pitched out of further trouble, retiring Tarran Senay on a groundout to the drawn-in infield, and Dallas Poulk on a fly ball to the warning track in center field.
The Anteaters tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the third. Casey Stephenson led off and worked Mazzoni for a walk. D.J. Crumlich grounded to second to advance Stevenson to second, but Ciencin looked Stephenson back to second base on Jordan Fox’s grounder to third. Mazzoni appeared out of the inning on Tommy Reyes’s two-out grounder to shortstop, but Canela dropped Matt Bergquist’s throw to first base, allowing Stephenson to score the tying run.
UC Irvine took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth on a double dose of bad luck and poor defense by NC State. With one out and Tommy Reyes on first base with a walk, Brian Hernandez hit what should have been an inning-ending double-play ball to second base. The defense turned the play easily, but the double play was erased on a balk call against Mazzoni. Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent pleaded his case to the contrary to no avail, so instead of the inning being over, there was a runner on second, one out, and Hernandez was still at the plate. Mazzoni retired Hernandez on an almost-identical grounder to second base, but Reyes moved to third on the play. Ronnie Schaeffer followed with what should have been an inning-ending foul pop-up between home and first, but Canela called catcher Pratt Maynard off the play, only to drop the ball while attempting a skidding catch. The error kept the inning alive, and Mazzoni got the run home himself with a wild pitch, five outs after the inning began.
Tarran Senay led off the bottom of the seventh for the Wolfpack and hit a single through the left side of the infield. Dallas Poulk ripped a single through the box and into center field, nearly decapitating reliever Matt Summers and moving Senay to third. Chris Diaz pinch-hit for Matt Bergquist and got the run home when he grounded into a double play, tying the game at 2-2.
With two down in the top of the 10th, Stevenson smoked a triple into the gap in right-center field and scored the tiebreaking when Ryan Fisher followed with a double off the wall in left. Cory Olson followed with another double off the left-field wall, driving in Fisher and giving the Anteaters a 4-2 lead.
UCI closer Kyle Necke came on to pitch the bottom of the 10th, but it was not his day. After retiring Kyle Wilson on an infield pop-up to start the inning, Necke walked Ciencin and gave up a single up the middle to Maynard to put runners on first and second for Canela, who atoned for his defensive malfeasances with his second double past the first-base bag and into the right-field corner. Ciencin and Maynard scored to tie the game at 4-4.
Necke played the percentages by walking Drew Poulk to pitch to Russell Wilson, but the Wolfpack left fielder got a 1-2 pitch to his liking and crushed it, high and deep over the wall in left-center for the Pack’s second extra-inning walkoff victory this week.
NC State will continue play in the Baseball at the Beach tournament on Saturday. The Wolfpack will play James Madison at Coastal Carolina’s stadium in nearby Conway, S.C. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live in WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line at gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
