Florida States routs the Wolfpack to advance
by Drew Hankin
The Seminoles hammered out seventeen
runs on eighteen hits, including a ten-run fifth inning to rout the
previously undefeated North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday night in
the ACC Baseball Tournament. Tony Richie, Jerrod Brown, and Bryan Zech all
had three hits for the Noles, and Blake Balkcom homered for the eight time
this season to lead the Seminole offense.
Mark Sauls started the game but was pulled in the fourth inning after
allowing two runs on four hits and four walks. Rhett James (1-3) earned
his first win of the season with 2.1 strong innings of work. James came in
during the fourth inning with two outs and the bases loaded, and got the
strikeout to end the threat. Matt DiBlasi pitched the final three innings
of the ballgame to earn his first save of the season.
NC State scored first in the second inning when rightfielder Joe Gaetti
reached on a throwing error by Stepehen Drew, moved to third on a double
by firstbaseman David Hicks, and scored on a sacrifice fly by
centerfielder Marc Maynor.
The Pack picked up another run in the second fram when leftfielder Matt
Camp reached on another error by Drew, moved to second on a single by
shortstop Chad Orvella, to third on a walk to designated hitter Colt
Morton, and scored when Gaetti walked with the bases loaded.
FSU rallied in the fourth inning when Richie led off with a single to
right, and moved to third when Balkcom doubled to right-centerfield. Brown
then doubled in both runner with a shot down the first baseline. Brown
then scored on a single to left by Chris Hart to put the Seminoles ahead
3-2.
Tony McQuade led off the scoring explosion in the fifth inning with a
single to centerfield. After Richie drew a walk, McQuade advanced to third
on a fly out by Balkcom to put runners on the corners. Brown picked up his
third RBI of the game with a single to make it 4-2. A double steal by
Richie and Brown scored another run, and an error allowed Brown to advance
to third on the play before Hart doubled him in. Danny Wardell moved Hart
to third with a single before a single by Zech scored him. After both
Wardell and Zech advanced on a wild pitch, Aaron Cheesman reached on a
fielder's choice that scored Wardell and moved Zech to third. Drew then
brought Zech home with a double off the wall. After McQuade drew a walk,
Richie flew out ot rightfield to score Kevin Richmond, who was
pinch-running for Cheesman. A double steal by Drew and McQuade put runners
on second and third for Balkcom who homed to right and gave the Noles 13-2
lead.
Florida State picked up two more runs in the seventh inning when Richie
walked, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on another Brown
single. Brandon Manasa then drew a walk before Zech doubled to bring home
Brown. NCSU picked up three runs off of DiBlasi in the bottom of the
inning, but settled down to throw a scoreless eighth.
In the top of the ninth frame, Brown led off with a walk, moved to second
on a wild pitch, and to third on a groundout by Manasa, before scoring on
another groundball by Wardell. Zech then singled, moved to second on a
Richmond single, and scored when DiBlasi reached on an error by the
Wolfpack secondbaseman to score FSU's final run of the game. NC State
picked up one run in the bottom of the inning when Morton homered, but
DiBlasi came back to get the final two outs of the game.
FSU improved to 50-9-1 on the season while the Wolfpack fell to 42-15. FSU
advances to Sunday's 1:00 game against the winner of the 9:30 am game
between North Carolina and Georgia Tech. Glen Simon (3-0 1.29) is
scheduled to start for the Noles. The Wolfpack now get a bye into the 4:00
Championship game. Both 1:00 and 4:00 games will be televised live on The
Sunshine Network.
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Section B Online Player of the Game:
Jerrod Brown (3-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2B, 2 BB) |
