North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Rallies, Falls Short At UNCW, 9-6
3/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNC Wilmington jumped on NC State early Wednesday night, but had to hold on for dear life as the Wolfpack rallied through the middle innings, only to fall short in a 9-6 defeat at Brooks Field.
The Seahawks had their hitting shoes on in the early innings and twice built leads of eight runs. With one out in the bottom of the first, Grayson Evans flared a single to shallow center field, and Cody Stanley reached on an infield hit. Williams walked Hunter Ridge to load the bases, and Andrew Cain drove in a run when he grounded to third base for a force play. Robbie Monday walked to load the bases again, and Alex Hill made it a 3-0 lead with a two-run single to right, the only hard-hit ball of the inning off Williams (1-1), who allowed three runs on three hits in his only inning of work.
Ben Thieisen led off the bottom of the second inning for the Seahawks and capped a 10-pitch at-bat against reliever Nate King with a single to left-center. Michael Rooney bunted the runner to second, and Grayson Evans made it 4-0 with a double off the wall in right field. King retired Stanley on a foul pop to left, but Ridge walked and Cain homered to straightaway center field to give UNC Wilmington a 7-0 lead.
The Seahawks added another run in the bottom of the third, this time off reliever Danny Healey, the third NC State pitcher in as many innings. Healey, who stuck around for three solid innings, retired Hill leading off the inning, but Matt Holt was safe on a dribbler in front of the mound and stole second. Thieisen singled to left to put runners on first and third, and Michael Rooney got Holt home with a bunt single to the left of the mound, extending the Seahawks’ lead to 8-0.
UNCW starter Steven Davis did a high-wire act into the fourth inning before Seahwks coach Mark Scalf had seen enough. After Davis walked Pratt Maynard and Chris Schaeffer to lead off the inning, his fifth and sixth walks in three-plus innings, Scalf went to the mound and brought the hook with him, calling in righthander Seth Frankoff, who allowed a run to score with a pair of wild pitches, but got out of the innings by throwing called strike three to Russell Wilson, Matt Bergquist and John Gianis.
With one away in the bottom of the fourth, Cain took Healey the other way, slicing a line drive just fair along the right-field line and into the corner for a triple. Robbie Monday got the run home by chopping a single over the right side of the drawn-in infield to give the Seahawks a 9-1 lead after four innings.
Kyle Wilson led off the top of the fifth for the Wolfpack with a first-pitch double to left-center and scored on a one-out single to left by Andrew Ciencin. Maynard moved Ciencin to third with a two-out single through the right side of the infield, but Frankoff fanned pinch-hitter Danny Canela to end the threat.
NC State got back in the game in the top of the sixth. Russell Wilson led off and walked. Matt Bergquist singled through the left side of the infield, and he and Wilson executed a double steal to put runners on second and third. John Gianis cleared the bases with a three-run homer over the scoreboard in right field. One out later, Dallas Poulk hit his fifth homer of the year, a solo shot, to trim the UNCW lead to three at 9-6.
The Wolfpack appeared to have momentum at that point and was poised to make a new game of it in the top of the seventh. Maynard led off an walked, and with one down, pinch-hitter Tarran Senay stroked a double into the right-field corner to put runners on second and third. Bergquist worked reliever Bryan Booth for a walk to load the bases and bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate. Booth recovered quickly enough, however. First he got Gianis to hit a grounder to third base, with Matt Holt throwing to the plate to get the force on Maynard. Booth then got Kyle Wilson looking at strike three to end the inning.
Booth, who evened his record at 1-1 with the win, retired five of the last six men he faced, three of them on strikes.
NC State will return to action this weekend with a three-game Atlantic Coast Confernece series at Wake Forest. Game times are 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line on gopack.com through the Pack Pass pacckage.
The Seahawks had their hitting shoes on in the early innings and twice built leads of eight runs. With one out in the bottom of the first, Grayson Evans flared a single to shallow center field, and Cody Stanley reached on an infield hit. Williams walked Hunter Ridge to load the bases, and Andrew Cain drove in a run when he grounded to third base for a force play. Robbie Monday walked to load the bases again, and Alex Hill made it a 3-0 lead with a two-run single to right, the only hard-hit ball of the inning off Williams (1-1), who allowed three runs on three hits in his only inning of work.
Ben Thieisen led off the bottom of the second inning for the Seahawks and capped a 10-pitch at-bat against reliever Nate King with a single to left-center. Michael Rooney bunted the runner to second, and Grayson Evans made it 4-0 with a double off the wall in right field. King retired Stanley on a foul pop to left, but Ridge walked and Cain homered to straightaway center field to give UNC Wilmington a 7-0 lead.
The Seahawks added another run in the bottom of the third, this time off reliever Danny Healey, the third NC State pitcher in as many innings. Healey, who stuck around for three solid innings, retired Hill leading off the inning, but Matt Holt was safe on a dribbler in front of the mound and stole second. Thieisen singled to left to put runners on first and third, and Michael Rooney got Holt home with a bunt single to the left of the mound, extending the Seahawks’ lead to 8-0.
UNCW starter Steven Davis did a high-wire act into the fourth inning before Seahwks coach Mark Scalf had seen enough. After Davis walked Pratt Maynard and Chris Schaeffer to lead off the inning, his fifth and sixth walks in three-plus innings, Scalf went to the mound and brought the hook with him, calling in righthander Seth Frankoff, who allowed a run to score with a pair of wild pitches, but got out of the innings by throwing called strike three to Russell Wilson, Matt Bergquist and John Gianis.
With one away in the bottom of the fourth, Cain took Healey the other way, slicing a line drive just fair along the right-field line and into the corner for a triple. Robbie Monday got the run home by chopping a single over the right side of the drawn-in infield to give the Seahawks a 9-1 lead after four innings.
Kyle Wilson led off the top of the fifth for the Wolfpack with a first-pitch double to left-center and scored on a one-out single to left by Andrew Ciencin. Maynard moved Ciencin to third with a two-out single through the right side of the infield, but Frankoff fanned pinch-hitter Danny Canela to end the threat.
NC State got back in the game in the top of the sixth. Russell Wilson led off and walked. Matt Bergquist singled through the left side of the infield, and he and Wilson executed a double steal to put runners on second and third. John Gianis cleared the bases with a three-run homer over the scoreboard in right field. One out later, Dallas Poulk hit his fifth homer of the year, a solo shot, to trim the UNCW lead to three at 9-6.
The Wolfpack appeared to have momentum at that point and was poised to make a new game of it in the top of the seventh. Maynard led off an walked, and with one down, pinch-hitter Tarran Senay stroked a double into the right-field corner to put runners on second and third. Bergquist worked reliever Bryan Booth for a walk to load the bases and bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate. Booth recovered quickly enough, however. First he got Gianis to hit a grounder to third base, with Matt Holt throwing to the plate to get the force on Maynard. Booth then got Kyle Wilson looking at strike three to end the inning.
Booth, who evened his record at 1-1 with the win, retired five of the last six men he faced, three of them on strikes.
NC State will return to action this weekend with a three-game Atlantic Coast Confernece series at Wake Forest. Game times are 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line on gopack.com through the Pack Pass pacckage.
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