Courtesy: NC State Jeremy Synan threw out two baserunners from left field Saturday to help NC State defeat Boston College 3-2.
RALEIGH, N.C. – This was not a night of offensive firepower. NC State scored its runs on an error, a bases-loaded walk and a passed ball, but three runs, a stout pitching performance and some dubious baserunning and defense by Boston College proved to be just enough for the Wolfpack to come away with a 3-2 victory Saturday over the Eagles in the second game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference at Doak Field at Dail Park.
Lefthander Eric Surkamp (4-2) pitched into the sixth inning and allowed a run on three hits to earn the win. Joey Cutler and Jimy Gillheeney allowed one run in four combined innings, with Gillheeney earning his 10th save of the season. Boston College bailed out the NC State pitching staff several times on the basepaths. Two Eagles were gunned down attempting to steal, and three more were thrown out on plays following base hits, one of them at home plate in the top of the ninth inning.
Boston College starter Terry Doyle, one of the top pitchers in the ACC the last two seasons, has struggled this season and brought an ERA of 8.00 into the game. He pitched the way he did the last two years. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but was trailing 1-0 after four thanks to a throwing error by second baseman Matt Hamlet. With one out and runners on first and second on walks, Jeremy Synan hit a grounder to second base that Hamlet threw into left field for an error. The lead runner, Pat Ferguson, scored on the play for an unearned run.
The Wolfpack finally broke up the no-hitter in the fifth on a leadoff single by Nick Stanley, a fly ball that froze left fielder Mickey Wiswall. The ball fell in front of Wiswall to end the no-hitter, then skipped past the left fielder for an error. Doyle recovered to strike out Tommy Foschi and Drew Martin for the first two outs of the inning, but then walked Dallas Poulk, intentionally walked Ferguson, and walked Matt Payne to force in a run and make it 2-0.
Eric Campbell’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly pulled BC to within a run at 2-1, but a passed ball by Tony Sanchez allowed Ryan Pond to score, giving the Pack a 3-1 lead.
Garret Smith’s second homer of the season, a solo shot in the seventh made it 3-2, but the Eagles squandered several scoring chances with slipshod baserunning. Just before Campbell’s sacrifice fly, Sanchez hit a single to right field. Matt Payne threw home to keep Michael Belfiore from scoring on the play, but Sanchez attempted to take second base on the throw home and was thrown out at second by catcher Nick Stanley.
One batter prior to Smith’s homer, Hamlet singled off the wall in left field, but Synan played the ball perfectly off the wall and gunned Hamlet down trying to stretch his hit into a double. In the ninth, Wiswall doubled to right, but pinch-runner Robert Anston attempted to score from second on Hamlet’s single to left. Synan again was Johnny On The Spot, making a perfect throw to the plate to cut down Anston by plenty. Smith, the next batter, flied to right to end the game.
NC State and Boston College will play the final game of this weekend’s three-game series on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m. This is a change from the originally scheduled 1:30 p.m. start. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on the internet at gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
Courtesy: NC State
