No. 22 Coastal Stops Baseball 5-4 With Four-Run Sixth

RALEIGH, N.C. – Coastal Carolina scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning Wednesday, taking advantage of a pair of walks, two infield singles and an error, to surge past NC State and defeat the Wolfpack 5-4 at Doak Field at Dail Park.

The loss snapped NC State’s seven-game winning streak and dropped the Pack to 21-10 on the season, but the intensity of the game and the Wolfpack’s competitiveness helped head coach Elliott Avent overcome any disappointment in the loss. Coastal, ranked No. 22 in the latest Baseball America poll, improved to 25-7.

“That game was like what you would see in an NCAA Regional,” Avent said. “That’s a great baseball team that hosted a regional last year, and they threw seven great arms at us. The game had the intensity of a postseason game from the first inning on, especially in the middle innings. You always want to win and I’m disappointed that we lost, but I’m really proud of how our guys battled and competed.”

The Wolfpack took the early momentum, scoring a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single to center by Matt Payne and two more in the fourth on a two-run double to left by Tommy Foschi.

Starting pitcher Alex Sogard, making just his second start in 14 appearances, was terrific for four innings, allowing just two hits, walking two and striking out four. The four innings matched his longest outing of the season, and Joey Cutler was summoned from the bullpen to start the fifth. Cutler cruised through the fifth, but ran into trouble in the sixth.

Adam Rice got the Chanticleers’ big inning started with a home run off the left-field foul pole. That was the only ball Coastal hit really hard in the inning, but when the dust settled, the Chanticleers held a 4-3 lead. Dock Doyle reached on an error by second baseman Dallas Poulk and stole second. Cutler retired the next two hitters on a fly ball to right and a foul pop-up to catcher, then turned the ball over to lefty reliever Jake Kensmoe.

Making his first appearance of the season, Kensmoe walked lefthanded hitting Tommy Baldridge on a close 3-2 pitch, and Kyle Rutter came in to face Tyler Bortnick, who reached on a grounder up the middle that Poulk was able to smother, but could not make a play. That loaded the bases, and Rico Noel tied the score with a two-run single to center field. David Sappelt walked to reload the bases, and Scott Woodward’s bouncer to the hole between shortstop and third base went for an infield single that gave Coastal the lead at 4-3. Rutter was charged with just one run on three hits in 1 2/3 innings, but took the loss to fall to 1-1.

Cody Wheeler, the third of seven pitchers used by the Chanticleers, got the win and improved to 3-0. Joey Haug pitched the ninth for his fourth save of the season.

Bortnick added a solo home run in the top of the eighth, and the Wolfpack cut the final deficit to a single run on Ryan Pond’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“If we can bring that kind of intensity to the ballpark every game and compete like that every at-bat, every pitch, then this team can host a regional,” Avent said. “We’ve come a long way with this team. We have a lot of work left to do. We still can get better, but this team is very close to being a special team.”

NC State will return to action this weekend with a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series vs. Duke. Game times are 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on the internet at gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.