Courtesy: NC State Drew Martin and the Wolfpack dropped a thriller at UNCW on Wednesday, 3-2 in 11 innings.
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Heroics, controversy, great pitching, this one had everything, except for a happy ending for the visitors. Rhett Miller scored all the way from first base on Jes Snyder’s 11th-inning double Wednesday night to lift UNC Wilmington to a 3-2 victory over 17th-ranked NC State in a thriller at Brooks Field.
With a sellout crowd in excess of 3000 in attendance, the Wolfpack and Seahawks played a game that had all the tension and excitement of a postseason tournament game. In particular, the pitching was exceptional on both sides.
Five NC State pitchers combined on a five-hitter, holding the Seahawks hitless for seven consecutive innings at one point and retiring 21 of 24 hitters in that stretch. The Wolfpack bullpen worked eight innings and allowed just one earned run on two hits. Starter Jeff Stallings worked three strong innings, allowing a run on three hits. Sam Brown pitched 4 1/3 innings without allowing a hit. Lefthanders Drew Taylor and Jake Kensmoe came out of the pen in key spots to face lefthanded hitters and retired both. Kyle Rutter worked 1 2/3 innings and allowed only a lone base hit. Jason Zinser, who took the loss to fall to 0-1, pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the 10th, stranding a pair of runners.
On the other side of the ledger, three UNCW pitchers combined on a six-hitter, allowing just three hits through the first six innings and five hits through nine. The Seahawks allowed only a pair of two-out hits from the end of the fourth inning through the ninth.
Snyder was the game’s offensive hero, belting a solo home run in the bottom of the second and the game-winning double in the 11th. His homer should have been a two-run shot, except that NC State catcher Chris Schaeffer picked Cody Stanley off first base earlier in the inning after Stanley led off with a single up the middle.
The sum total of the Wolfpack’s offense came in the top of the fourth. The Pack loaded the bases with none out on a single to left by Ryan Pond, a walk to Pat Ferguson and a single to left by Matt Payne. Jeremy Synan got the first run home with a slow grounder to shortstop, and Marcus Jones made it 2-1 with a sacrifice fly to center field. The Seahawks retired 16 of the next 19 Wolfpack hitters, and 18 of the next 23, although two of those outs came on controversial plays.
Pond led off the top of the sixth with a sharp one-hopper back to the mound that ticked off the glove of pitcher Cameron Roth and ricocheted to second baseman Daniel Hargrave. Hargrave’s throw to first base was wide of the bag, and Snyder’s attempted tag appeared to miss Pond by a foot. Pond initially was ruled safe, but a meeting by the umpires resulted in the play being overturned followed by a lengthy discussion among the NC State coaches and the three-man umpiring crew.
In the top of the 10th, Dallas Poulk drove a one-out single to right field, then attempted to steal second base, but Tommy Foschi, the batter at the plate, was ruled out for interfering with catcher Mark Carver’s throw to second base. This call resulted in a longer and much more heated discussion between the NC State coaches and the umpires, who won both arguments.
The Seahawks tied the game at 2-2 with an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth. Mike Rooney led off and walked. Alex Hill laid down a sacrifice bunt that Sam Brown fielded but couldn’t get out of his glove at first. He looked to second, then threw late to first and hit the runner in the back, resulting in an error and runners at first and third with none out. Brown struck out Hargrave looking, but unleashed a wild pitch during Hargrave’s at-bat to allow Rooney to score.
NC State had one last chance to break the tie in the top of the 11th. Pond led off against reliever Stephen Harrold (4-2) and hit a fly ball to the warning track in left-center field that Hill dropped for a three-base error. Harrold walked Ferguson and struck out Matt Payne for the first out of the inning, then ended the inning by inducing Wade Moore to bounce into a double play.
The game-winning rally began with Stanley flying out to right field and Miller walking. Snyder drove the 1-0 pitch from Zinser off the wall in left. Miller, running on the play, scored easily.
NC State returns to action on Friday at Maryland for the first game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and 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. In addition, Saturday’s game will be televised on Fox Sports South.
Courtesy: NC State
