Baseball Thumps Wake Forest 17-6

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – For a game that lasted more than three hours, this one was over pretty quickly. NC State scored four in the first inning and five more in the ninth Friday before coasting to a 17-6 victory in the opening game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series vs. Wake Forest.

The win was NC State’s first in ACC play after being swept at Clemson a week ago. The Wolfpack improved to 13-5 overall. Wake Forest remained winless in conference play and fell to 6-13 overall.

The Wolfpack jumped on Wake starter Michael Dimock (1-3) early and often. Kyle Wilson and Dallas Poulk led off the top of the first inning with walks. With one down, Pratt Maynard hit a routine grounder to first base that Austin Stadler stabbed at and missed for an error. Wilson scored on the error and Poulk went all the way to third. Danny Canela walked to load the bases, and Drew Poulk made it 3-0 with a two-run single through the left side of the infield. John Gianis’s RBI single to right field scored the final run of the inning.

The Deacons came back with a run in the bottom half of the inning. Wolfpack starter Jake Buchanan, who got the win to improve to 3-1, struck out the first two hitters of the inning on six pitches and went to an 0-2 count to Steven Brooks before Brooks battled back and singled to left. Mike Murray singled through the right side of the infield to send Brooks to third, and Carlos Lopez drove him home with a single to left.

Kyle Wilson led off the top of the second and singled up the middle and off the second-base bag. Dallas Poulk walked, and Andrew Ciencin pulled a hit-and-run double down the line, past the third baseman and into the left-field corner. One out later, Canela hit a bouncer over Stadler’s head and down the right-field linefor a double to drive in Ciencin and give the Wolfpack a 7-1 lead. Tarran Senay drove in Canela with a double to left-center, and Senay scored on Gianis’s RBI single up the middle.

Dimock made it one batter into the third inning before he was lifted in favor of Mark Adzick. Dimock wound up allowing nine runs, seven earned, on eight hits in two-plus innings. He walked four and struck out two.

Adzick did his part to restore order, allowing only a two-out home run by Drew Poulk  in the top of the fourth to make it 10-1.

Stadler led off the bottom of the fifth and singled to left-center. Mac Williamson reached on an infield single to put runners on first and second with none out. Stadler and Williamson pulled a double steal, and Stadler scored on the play when Maynard’s throw went into center field for an error. Williamson went to third on that error and scored when Gianis overran the ball for another error. Pat Blair’s two-out homer to left cut the Wolfpack led to 10-4.

Kyle Wilson led off the top of the fifth, walked, took second on a wild pitch, and then stole third. Ciencin walked, and Maynard hit what should have been a double-play grounder to second base, but Mark Rhine had the ball kick off his glove for an error. Wilson scored and Ciencin and Maynard were safe at second and first, respectively. Canela drove them both home with an opposite-field, two-run double to left-center, extending the NC State lead to 13-4.

Dallas Poulk hit a one-out solo homer in the top of the sixth to give the Wolfpack a 10-run lead at 14-4.

Blair led off the bottom of the seventh, singled and stole second. Ryan Semeniuk grounded out to the pitcher to move Blair to third. Buchanan hit Brooks with a pitch, and Brooks stole second to put runners on second and third for Mike Murray, who singled to right to drive in both and cut the NC State lead to 14-6.

Buchanan got the win with seven innings of work. He allowed six runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out eight.

The Wolfpack capped it off with three more runs in the top of the ninth, all with two out. Senay homered to right and Gianis walked. Harold Riggins pinch-hit and blooped a single to right field. Gianis held at third, but Williamson came up throwing and short-hopped the catcher, allowing Riggins to go to second on the error. Kyle Wilson slapped a two-run single to left to drive in both runners.

NC State and Wake Forest will play the second game of this weekend’s three-game ACC series on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line on gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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