North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Takes Opener In Tallahassee, 5-2
5/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Jake Buchanan overcame a shaky first two innings, and NC State played Dr. Long Ball to defeat fifth-ranked Florida State 5-2 Friday night in the first game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Dick Howser Stadium.
The win, coupled with North Carolina’s rainout at Virginia, puts the Wolfpack in sole possession of eighth place in the overall ACC standings. The Tar Heels and Cavaliers will play a doubleheader on Saturday.
NC State extended its current winning streak to four games and improved to 32-18 overall, 12-13 in the ACC. NC State has won five of its last six games. The Wolfpack now is 6-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 this season. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Seminoles, who dropped to 37-13 overall and 16-9 in the conference.
Buchanan (6-4) got the win after allowing two runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six. Buchanan, whose normal M.O. is to pitch extremely well the first two times through the opponents’ batting order, ran into trouble in the first two innings, instead. After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second, however, he settled down and allowed just one hit over the last 5 2/3 innings he pitched. Grant Sasser got the final five outs for his fourth save. FSU starter Sean Gilmartin (6-6) got the loss after allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out six.
After Gilmartin went through the Wolfpack 1-2-3 in the top of the first, the Seminoles scored both of their runs in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Holt led off with a single to right and stole second. Stephen Cardullo lofted a blooper into shallow center field that fell for a hit, but Holt, unsure if the ball would be caught, was unable to advance. That put runners on first and second for Mike McGee, who made it 1-0 with an RBI-single to right field. Cardullo tried to advance to third on the play, but Drew Poulk made a strong throw and cut Cardullo down at third for the first out of the inning. Buchanan hit Stuart Tarpley with a pitch, and Sherman Johnson made it 2-0 with an RBI-single to center.
After spending three innings trying to figure out Gilmartin, NC State tied the score suddenly in the fourth. Drew Poulk hit a one-out single to left, the Wolfpack’s first hit of the game, and Harold Riggins hit a long, two-run homer to right-center. The Wolfpack took the lead with an unearned run in the top of the fifth. Russell Wilson reached on a one-out bunt single and went all the way to third when Cardullo booted Matt Bergquist’s grounder to shortstop for an error. Kyle Wilson got the run home by beating out an infield single.
Drew Poulk led off the top of the sixth by whistling a line drive right past Gilmartin’s left ear and into center field. Andrew Ciencin then made it 5-2 with a towering two-run homer off the “Dick Howser Stadium” sign atop the scoreboard in left field.
While his teammates were building him a three-run lead, Buchanan recovered from his rough start and got on a roll beginning with a strikeout of Tapley to end the second inning. Beginning with that strikeout, Buchanan retired 15 of the next 19 men he faced before being lifted with one down in the bottom of the eighth. One of the four who reached in that time did so on an error, which wasn’t Buchanan’s fault. Buchanan picked off one of the other three, and another was erased on a double play. Only one of the four reached scoring position, and none crossed home plate.
NC State and Florida State will play the second game of this three-game series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM and on-line at gopack.com, and also will be televised on the Florida Sun cable network. Check local listings to see if the game is being picked up by a cable or satellite provider near you.
