North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Upends Towson 14-5, Avent Wins No. 512
5/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. – Drew Poulk hit his second grand slam of the year and John Gianis and Pratt Maynard also homered as NC State defeated Towson 14-5 in non-conference action on a hot and muggy Friday night at Doak Field at Dail Park. The top eight of the starting lineup for NC State scored and Andrew Ciencin went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a single, a run scored and two RBIs.
With the win, NC State coach Elliott Avent lifted his record at NC State to 512-329 in 13-plus seasons. His next victory will tie him with Sam Esposito as the winningest coach in program history. Esposito went 513-253 from 1967-87.
NC State improved to 29-18 with the win. The Tigers fell to 16-32. Ethan Ogburn earned his first win of the year, pitching four innings in relief and allowing three hits, two runs, one walk, and four strikeouts. Austin Hurd took the loss and dropped to 2-4 on the year.
The Wolfpack jumped on Towson early and took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Dallas Poulk and Maynard led off with walks. Drew Poulk grounded out for the first out of the inning, advancing the runners to second and third. Dallas Poulk scored on a Harold Riggings sacrifice fly to right, and Andrew Ciencin doubled to left to score Maynard.
The Tigers battled back in the top of the second and tied the game 2-2. Steve Rice singled to left-center and stole second. Kurt Wertz then tied the game with a home run to right.
NC State responded in the bottom of the second to take a 7-2 lead. Tarran Senay walked. John Gianis singled to center field, advancing Senay to second. Maynard drew his second walk of the game in as many plate appearances to load the bases. Drew Poulk made it 6-2 with a two-out grand slam to left. Riggins singled off Towson reliever Charlie Cononie, and Ciencin doubled to left to drive in Riggins.
The scoring continued in the top of third with the Tigers closing the gap to 7-3. Nick Natoli doubled to lead off the inning, knocking Wolfpack starter Felix Roque from the game. Natoli advanced to second on a wild pitch from reliever Nate King. Kevin Collins and Steve Yarsinsky walked. Ogburn came in for King and got out of the inning with minimal damage. Chris Wychock grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring Natoli, and Rice struck out.
Towson trimmed the Pack lead to 7-5 in the top of the fourth. Austin Harclerode singled to right field. Wertz doubled Harclerode to third, and Parker walked to load the bases. Ben Winter reached on a force play to score Harclerode. Natoli drove in Wertz on a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Wolfpack scored again in the bottom of the fourth. Riggins hit a two-out double to right center and advanced to third on a passed ball. Ciencin was hit by a pitch and Chris Schaeffer walked to load the bases with two outs. Senay was hit by a pitch to force in a run, widening the Pack lead to 8-5. Tyler Austin entered in relief for the Tigers and got out of the inning without further runs scoring.
Towson committed three errors in the bottom of the sixth and the Wolfpack extended its lead to 12-5 with four unearned runs. Drew Poulk reached on an error by Harclerode at third base, and Riggins reached on an error by Natoli at shortstop.The runners pulled a double steal, and Poulk scored when catcher Andrew Parker’s throw to third was wide for an error. Riggins wound up on third.
Still with no outs, Ciencin walked to put runners on the corners. Schaeffer grounded to third base, and the Tigers got Riggins in a rundown between third and home. Riggins stayed alive long enough for Schaeffer and Ciencin to advance to second and third. Senay hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Ciencin and advance Schaeffer to third. Gianis followed with a two-run homer to right.
NC State increased its lead to 14-5 in the bottom of the seventh. Pratt Maynard hit his eighth homer of the year. Riggins got his third hit of the night on a single to left and advanced to second on a Ciencin single. Bill Edwards pinch-ran for Riggins. Schaeffer was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs and Chris Diaz became the pinch-runner. Senay singled to right to score Edwards.
NC State continues the series vs. Towson on Saturday. Game time is 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM and on-line at gopack.com.
