Diaz Lifts Baseball Past Wake Forest, 6-4

April 2, 2011

RALEIGH, N.C. — Chris Diaz went 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs, including the tying and go-ahead runs, as NC State defeated Wake Forest 6-4 Saturday to even their three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at a game apiece.

The Wolfpack won for the sixth time in its last eight games and improved to 16-12 overall, 4-7 in the ACC. Wake Forest dropped to 10-16 overall and 4-7.

Diaz led off the Wolfpack’s three-run third inning with a solo home run to left field, drove in the game-tying run with a single in the fourth, and drove home what proved to be the winning run with a single in the sixth and came all the way around to score a huge insurance run when the ball skipped past center fielder Steven Brooks for a three-base error.

The Demon Deacons took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second on Matt Conway’s solo home run and James Harris’s two-run double. The Wolfpack tied the game at 3-3 with three in the bottom of the third. After Diaz led off with his second homer of the season, Brett Williams singled up the middle and Chris Schaeffer walked. Pratt Maynard singled home Schaeffer, and Andrew Ciencin got Williams home with an RBI groundout. The single by Maynard extended his current hitting streak to 10 games, tying Diaz for the longest hitting streak on the team this season.

Ryan Lloyd led off the top of the fourth with a homer down the right-field line, just fair, to give Wake Forest a 4-3 lead, but Diaz tied the game by driving in Cameron Conner with a two-out single up the middle in the bottom half of the inning.

The winning rally in the sixth came off of reliever John McLeod (1-3). With one out, Conner hit a double to right-center. Matt Bergquist grounded to third, with Conner holding at second on the play. Diaz followed with a line-drive to center field. Brooks initially sprinted in to try and make a catch, but pulled up when he saw the ball was going to fall for a hit. When he went to scoop the ball and throw home, the ball skipped past him for an error and rolled all the way to the wall in center field. Diaz never stopped running and scored without a play at home plate.

Lefthander D.J. Thomas (1-1) was the beneficiary of the two-run rally. He pitched the top of the sixth inning and struck out the side without allowing a hit. Chris Overman pitched the final three innings and allowed a single and a walk, retiring nine of the 11 men he faced for his second save of the season.

NC State and Wake Forest will play the rubber game in this three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. Sunday will be Military Appreciation Day, with festivities beginning on Lee Field at 11 a.m. The game ball will be parachuted to home plate prior to the game.

The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and will be available on-line with video streaming on GoPack.com’s All-Access package. Live stats will be available on Gametracker. Just click the Gametracker icon on the baseball schedule page on GoPack.com.

As always, please visit GoPack.com regularly for full coverage of all NC State athletics news and events.

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Team Stats

Chris Diaz

Cameron Conner

Brett Williams

Pratt Maynard