No. 17 Baseball Wins Series Finale At Maryland, 17-8

Courtesy: NC State Matt Payne drove in four runs in NC State's 17-8 victory over Maryland on Sunday.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sunday games are often high-scoring affairs, and NC State and Maryland took that approach to the final game of their three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series Sunday, with the Wolfpack riding four big innings to a 17-8 rout of the Terrapins.

The 17th-ranked Pack scored four runs in the third, six in the fourth, and three in the sixth and seventh to improve to 35-16 overall and 17-9 in the ACC. The Terps, who scored six of their eight runs in the sixth inning, fell to 29-26 overall and 9-21 in the conference.

NC State starter Alex Sogard rolled through the first five innings and carried a 14-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth before hitting the wall and turning the game over to the bullpen. Sogard (4-1) worked five-plus innings and allowed six runs, five earned, on six hits. He walked two and struck out three. Maryland starter Mike Sufczynski went 3 2/3 innings to take the loss and fal to 2-2. He gave up seven runs on five hits and three walks. He did not record a strikeout.

The middle of the Wolfpack batting order had a huge day, with Pat Ferguson (2-for-4), Matt Payne (3-for-5), Jeremy Synan (3-for-6), Ryan Pond (3-for-6) and Nick Stanley (2-for-3) combining for 16 hits and 15 RBIs between them. Payne drove in four runs, Synan three, and Jones, Pond and Stanley two apiece.

NC State will play its final home game of the season on Tuesday at Doak Field at Dail Park against North Carolina A&T. Game time will be 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and will be available on-line on gopack.com through Pack Pass.