Jones' RBI-Single Lifts Pack to 5-4 Win over USC

BY TIM PEELER

RALEIGH, N.C. – Marcus Jones scored the tying run in the bottom of the sixth and drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh, as top-seeded NC State defeated second-seeded South Carolina 5-4 in a winners’ bracket game in the NCAA Raleigh Regional at Doak Field at Dail Park.

The win allows the Wolfpack (40-20) to advance to a possible championship game Sunday at 6 p.m. in the NCAA Raleigh Regional, facing the winner of the 1 p.m. game between the Gamecocks and James Madison.

Jones tied the game at 4 by scoring on a wild pitch, then laced a line drive to center field to score Matt Payne an inning later, just after South Carolina took a 4-3 lead with two unearned runs in the top of the sixth.

Kyle Rutter (3-1), the Wolfpack’s fourth pitcher of the night, entered the game in the seventh to pick up the win and senior closer Eryk McConnell pitched the ninth for his first save of the season in front of 2,577 specatators at the sold-out stadium.

"It was a great baseball game by both teams," Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent said. I thought both teams competed very, very well. The crowd was unbelievable, the best atmosphere I have seen here at Dail Park. Our guys played very, very well and kept their emotions in check with a lot of things going on."

Starter Clayton Shunick pitched into the seventh inning for the Wolfpack, but left with one out and a runner on second. Three relievers faced the next three Gamecock batters. Sam Brown came in and walked USC's Whit Merrifield, but Drew Taylor got Justin Smoak to fly out to right field and Rutter got James Darnell to pop up to shortstop to end the inning. 

"That was a great college baseball game," South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said. "It was one of those games that seemed like every pitch made a difference. We had our chances and they had their chances. They came up with the run there in the seventh with some key hits.

McConnell also got oustanding defense in the ninth inning on a couple of hard-hit line-drives by the Gamecocks. Devon Cartwright made a sliding catch of Scott Wingo's drive for the second out and sophomore second baseman Dallas Poulk made a diving stab of lead-off hitter Reese Havens' liner to end the game.

Poulk also provided some offense, driving in the Wolfpack first two runs in the first three innings. He lead off the bottom half of the first with a home run, a line shot that clipped one of the three flag poles beyond the right-center field wall. Two innings later he drove in shortstop Tommy Foschi with a single for the second run of the game.

Wolfpack starter Clayton Shunick, despite allowing two ground ball hits in the second inning, recorded five of the Gamecocks’ first six outs with strikeouts.

South Carolina got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth when leftfielder DeAngelo Mack hit a solo home run to right-center field, to close the gap to 2-1.

The Wolfpack went ahead 3-1 on an RBI-single by first baseman Pat Ferguson, driving in Payne in the bottom of the fourth. But the Gamecocks answered quickly in the top of the fifth after Wingo was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a balk by Shunick and driven home by an RBI-single by Whit Merrifield, who was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double.

In the bottom half of the fifth, the Wolfpack threatened, putting runners on first and second with one out on a Poulk single and an error by Darnell. But Payne fouled out to first base and designated hitter Jeremy Synan struck out looking to end the rally. Synan was then ejected from the game after he argued the called strike.

The Gamecocks took a 4-3 lead with a two-out rally in the top of the sixth as Phil Disher singled and Mack walked. Disher scored when Foschi committed a throwing error on Parker Bangs’ grounder. Andrew Crisp drove in the go-ahead run with a single to left field. But new NC State left fielder Devon Cartwright threw Bangs out at the plate for the third out of the inning.

The Wolfpack tied the game in the bottom half of the sixth when Jones scored from third base on a wild pitch by South Carolina reliever Brandon Todd. Jones reached after being hit by a pitch, moved to second on a single by Ferguson and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by catcher Chris Schaeffer. The inning ended on Poulk’s ground out to shortstop.

Jones then drove Payne home with the eventual the game-winning run with a single in the seventh.

"Going into that at-bat, I thought about my previous at-bats and how they weren't as productive as I wanted them to be. I told myself I was going to go in there with a two-strike approach and get something over the plate and just drive it. He threw a curve ball and I was able to hit it up the middle."

NC State will face the first game’s winner Sunday at 6 p.m., with the chance to advance to next weekend’s Super Regional round.

Sunday night’s Wolfpack game will be broadcast locally on WKNC 88.1-FM and globally for free on Pack Pass by going to this link. Join Wolfpack Sports Network's Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes to hear all the action.

You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.