Chamra Defeats Maryland, Improves To 7-0

Saturday, April 30

Doak Field at Dail Park

6:30 PM

NC State

25-19, 0

Maryland

20-26, 0

Maryland

NC State

4/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 30, 2011

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

RALEIGH, N.C. — Rob Chamra allowed three runs in eight innings Saturday, and Matt Bergquist homered twice and drove in three runs to pace NC State past Maryland 9-5 in the second game of a three-game series at Doak Field at Dail Park.

NC State and Maryland have split the first two games of the series. The Wolfpack now is 25-19 overall and 10-13 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terrapins are 20-26 and 5-18.

The eight innings marked a new career high for Chamra (7-0), who tied his previous best with six strikeouts. He scattered six hits, walked a pair and hit a batter. Chamra is one of five ACC pitchers with seven wins. Virginia’s Danny Hultzen and Georgia Tech’s Mark Pope lead the conference with nine wins apiece, and the Cavaliers’ Will Roberts is third with eight.

With four more starts pretty much a certainty for Chamra, plus a likely start in an NCAA regional, he has a chance to join some select company. The last NC State pitcher to win more than seven games in a season was Jake Buchanan, who went 8-6 a year ago. Gib Hobson went 10-2 in 2006 and was the last NC State pitcher to reach double figures in wins. In 2003, the incomparable pair of Michael Rogers and Vern Sterry both reached double figures; Rogers was 12-3 and Sterry was 11-0.

Chamra got off to a somewhat rocky start when Maryland second baseman Ryan Holland hit a one-out solo home run in the top of the first inning, but Chamra shut the Terps down on just three more hits until the seventh.

Tarran Senay got the Wolfpack on the board with a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the second, and Bergquist followed with the first of his two homers, a two-run shot to left.

Danny Canela, Bergquist and John Gianis hit singles to load the bases in the fourth, and Chris Diaz emptied them with a three-run double to the wall in left-center. Pratt Maynard’s two-out single drove in Diaz to give Chamra a 7-1 lead. Harold Riggins made it 8-1 with a solo homer in the fifth.

Freshman righthander Brady Kirkpatrick (2-3) was the victim of the Pack’s offensive eruption. He allowed eight runs on nine hits in six innings of work. He did set a new career high with eight strikeouts.

Chamra wobbled briefly in the top of the seventh, serving up a two-run homer to Tim Kiene, but recovered to pitch a scoreless eighth inning. Bergquist’s second homer of the game, a leadoff blast to left in the bottom of the eighth, made it 8-1, and NC State head coach Elliott Avent gave the ball to freshman lefthander D.J. Thomas to pitch the ninth.

Thomas did not exactly skate through the ninth untouched, allowing a pair of runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batter, but he got the final three outs to tie the series.

NC State and Maryland will play the final game of this three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and will be available on-line with videostreaming 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.