North Carolina State University Athletics
Boston College Comeback Downs Baseball, 10-8
4/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State probably has seen enough of Robbie Anston. The Boston College center fielder and leadoff hitter had three hits and three RBIs, including the game-winning runs in the top of the ninth inning, Saturday to lead the Eagles past the Wolfpack 10-8 in the second game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Doak Field at Dail Park.
Thanks in large part to Anston, who has six hits and six RBIs in the series, BC has taken the first two games of the series and improves to 22-17 overall and 11-9 in the ACC. NC State falls to 26-15 overall and 9-11 in the conference.
Boston College closer Matt Brazis (1-0) worked 2 2/3 innings of relief to get the win. He allowed one run on two hits, walked two and struck out two. Rob Chamra (3-1) took the loss for NC State after yielding three runs on five hits in two innings of work.
After a scoreless first inning, the Eagles got to Wolfpack starting pitcher Cory Mazzoni for four runs, all with two outs, on three hits, a stolen base, two wild pitches and four errors in a wild top of the second inning. Garret Smith got it started with a two-out double to right-center, then scored from second when Anston beat out an infield chopper for a single. Anston stole second and went to third when the throw to second sailed into center field for an error. Matt Hamlet walked to put runners on the corners. A wild pitch allowed Anston to score and Hamlet to take second base. Mickey Wiswall hit an infield chopper almost identical to Anston’s. Shortstop Matt Bergquist made a nice play to glove the ball, but his throw to first was wide for an error. Hamlet scored all the way from second in the play, and Wiswall wound up on second base. Wiswall took third on a wild pitch, and John Spatola walked to put runners on the corners. Mazzoni picked Spatola off first, and in the ensuing rundown Wiswall broke for home and was safe when the throw to the plate was off the mark for an error. Spatola was awarded third base on obstruction by Bergquist when the two collided in the basepath, but the Wolfpack finally got out of the inning when catcher Chris Schaeffer picked Spatola off third. Bergquist tagged him out for the third out.
NC State got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Schaeffer led off and doubled into the left-field corner, went to third on a groundout, and scored on John Gianis’s single up the middle. Bergquist singled through the left side of the infield, and Gianis alertly went all the way to third on the play. Dallas Poulk singled to right, extending his hitting streak to 12 games and driving in Gianis to chop the Boston College lead in half at 4-2.
The Wolfpack made it a one-run game at 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth when Schaeffer hit a long solo homer to left.
Mazzoni finally hit the end of the line in the top of the fifth. He walked Spatola and Matt Watson to start the inning, then slipped and fell trying to field Anthony Melchionda’s bunt attempt, which went for an infield single that loaded the bases with none out. That was all for Mazzoni, who gave way to Nate King. Mike Sudol hit a sharp grounder to first base. Riggins made a nice play on the ball and a nicer throw home for the force on Spatola for the first out. Brad Zapenas got Watson home with a sacrifice fly to center field, but King recovered and struck out Smith to end the inning with BC holding a 5-3 lead.
Anston continued to torment Wolfpack pitching in the top of the sixth, leading off with a solo homer to right off King to push the Eagles lead to three runs at 6-3.
Watson led off the top of the seventh for Boston College and doubled to right. Chamra came on in relief for King and Melchionda laid down what was intended to be a sacrifice bunt, but the ball squirted past Chamra before he could get a glove on the ball and it went for an infield single. Chamra struck out Mike Sudol and Zapenas, but Smith singled up the middle to drive in Watson and give the Eagles a 7-3 lead.
Riggins and Andrew Ciencin led off the bottom of the seventh with solo home runs off reliever Kevin Moran, Riggins’ to right field and Ciencin’s to left, and Schaeffer doubled into the left-field corner. Moran moved Schaeffer to third base with a wild pitch and Terran Senay walked to put runners on the corners, still with no one out. John Gianis popped out on the infield for the second out, and Boston College brought in closer Matt Brazis to face pinch-hitter Danny Canela, who flied out to left to drive in Schaeffer and trim the BC lead back to one run at 7-6. Dallas Poulk, up next, hit a fly ball to right field, but Spatola, after making two incredible catches earlier in the day, was unable to catch the ball while sliding and the ball slid away for a double. Senay scored the tying run on the play.
Brazis got the bottom of the eighth started by hitting Drew Poulk with the first pitch of the inning, and then walking Harold Riggins on four pitches to put runners on first and second with none out. Ciencin popped up a bunt attempt for the first out of the inning, but Schaeffer continued his big day with a single up the middle to drive in Poulk with the tiebreaking run.
The Wolfpack’s lead was short-lived. Chamra walked Watson leading off the top of the ninth and Melchionda singled up the middle. Sudol tie the game at 8-8 with a double to left field, leaving runners on second and third with none out. Anthony Tzamtzis came on in relief for NC State intentionally walked pinch-hitter Andrew Lawrence, then retired Smith on a fly ball to shallow right field. But Anston broke the tie with a two-run single to center, giving the Eagles the victory at 10-8.
NC State and Boston College will play the final game of this weekend’s three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line on gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
