North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Falls 8-3 to FSU in ACC Title Game
5/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
(Updated 8:46 a.m., 5/31/2010, to update Schaeffer's release from hospital.)
BY TIM PEELER
GREENSBORO, N.C. - NC State's effort to win the ACC Baseball Championship ran out of steam in the final three innings Sunday afternoon in its three-game, 31-hour marathon of action at NewBridge Bank Park.
The Wolfpack, which played 18 1/2 innings Saturday and another 8 1/2 on Sunday afternoon against well-rested Florida State, lost 8-3 in the championship game, as the Seminoles scored six runs in their final two at-bats to claim their sixth ACC title since joining the league in 1992.
A total of 6,247 spectators saw the game, setting a record for the ACC Championship game.
Going into the bottom of the seventh, the Wolfpack held on to a precarious 3-2 lead, which it built on a solo homer by Andrew Ciencin in the second, a sacrifice fly by Tarran Senay in the fourth and a run-scoring single by Ciencin in the fifth.
But the Seminoles kept putting runners on base against the Wolfpack's depleted pitching staff, stranding men in scoring position four consecutive innings without pushing a run across.
That changed in the bottom of the seventh, when Seminole outfielder James Ramsey singled to right, followed by a walk to shortstop Stephen Cardullo and a sacrifice bunt by Stuart Tapley.
First baseman Jayce Boyd hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield that tied the game, and catcher Rafael Lopez gave FSU the lead with a run-scoring single to right.
The Seminoles added the insurance they needed in the eighth, when leftfielder Mike McGee hit a homer over the wall in center. Afterwards, the Seminoles loaded the bases with no one out, as associate head coach Tom Holliday brought in three different pitchers, including catcher/designated hitter Pratt Maynard, for situational at-bats. Anthony Tzamtzis, the Pack's sixth and final pitcher of the day, struck out Boyd and got Devon Travis to fly out to right field.
But on Travis' fly ball, Ramsey tagged at third and ran over Wolfpack catcher Chris Schaffer at the plate, scoring a run and knocking Schaeffer unconscious. Play stopped for nearly 30 minutes as Schaeffer received medical attention and an ambulance arrived to take him to Moses Cone Memorial Hospital for observation.
Schaeffer waved his right arm as he was placed in the ambulance on a stretcher, and reports from the hospital late Sunday afternoon said that he was conscious and cracking jokes. Schaeffer was diagnosed with a concussion. After a CT scan revealed no further injuries, he was released from the hospital and transported back to Raleigh by a member of the NC State Sports Medicine staff.
When play resumed, Lopez hit a two-run single that increased the Seminole lead to 8-3.
FSU reliever Sean Gilmartin, who pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, picked up his seventh win of the season. Grant Sasser (3-4) took the loss.
NC State sophomore Harold Riggins was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, becoming on the second Wolfpack player to win the award. Pitcher Matt Donahue won it in 1992, the last time NC State won the championship. Riggins, second baseman Dallas Poulk, centerfielder Kyle Wilson and pitcher Jake Buchanan were all named to the All-Tournament team.
The Wolfpack played two full games Saturday, losing to Georgia Tech 17-5 in the morning to complete a game that started Friday night. In the nightcap, the Wolfpack defeated Virginia Tech 10-9 in 10 innings to advance to the title game. The team returned to its hotel at 2 a.m. Sunday and was back at the park by 10 a.m. for batting practice.
"It's been hard," said senior centerfielder Kyle Wilson. "It takes a toll. You get back to the hotel and you can't really go back to sleep. You are so hyped up about the game.
"But when the game starts, you put all that stuff aside and you don't think about it."
Avent dismissed the excuse of fatigue in the late loss.
"I don't think we were tired," he said. "It was like being in Vegas: there were no clocks. We didn't know what time it was.
"I thought what got us was Sean Gilmartin. He got us out, which a lot of right-handers don't do. He didn't get us out because we were tired. He got us out because he has a great change-up."
Senior Alex Sogard, the winning pitcher in Wednesday night's opener over Clemson, pitched 4 1/3 strong innings for the Wolfpack, until giving way to Rob Chamra in the bottom of the fifth. He threw 83 pitches, allowed five hits, four walks and two earned runs. He struck out four.
Chamra hit the first batter he faced, loading the bases with Seminoles. But he struck out Tapley and got Boyd to hit a fly ball to leftfield to end the inning. Grant Sasser came on in the bottom of the sixth, with runners on first and second. He got Sherman Johnson to fly out to centerfield. On Sasser's third strike to Mike McGee, the pitcher was called for a late balk, advancing runners to second and third.
On the next pitch, however, Sasser struck out McGee again, ending the Seminole threat.
The Wolfpack loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, on back-to-back singles by Ciencin and first baseman Harold Riggins and a one-out walk by designated hitter Pratt Maynard. Leftfielder Tarran Senay scored Ciencin with a sacrifice fly to tie the game before shortstop Matt Bergquist hit a grounder to third to end the inning.
The Seminoles grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second on a couple of hard-hit balls into the outfield. Stephen Cardullo walked, followed by Stuart Tapley's double to left. Jayce Boyd followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game and Devon Travis doubled to center to give his team the lead.
But Sogard came back strong, striking out the next two batters - both on called third strikes - to end the inning.
Ciencin led off the second inning with a solo homer to left center field, his 10th of the season. The Wolfpack now has six players with 10 or more home runs for only the second time in school history. Drew Poulk (13) leads the team, followed by Riggins (12), Dallas Poulk (11), Pratt Maynard (11) and Schaeffer (11).
The Wolfpack will await word on whether it receives an NCAA Championship bid on Monday. Pairings for the tournament, which begin at the end of the week, will be announced at 12:30 p.m. Monday.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
