Maryland
No Carolina St
Baseball Team Holds Off NC State, 7-5
4/14/2001 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 14, 2001
RALEIGH, N.C.- Jared Stuart pitched a career-high 7 2/3 innings and all nine Maryland position
players had base hits as the Terrapins handed NC State a 7-5 defeat in Atlantic
Coast Conference baseball action Saturday night at Doak Field.
Maryland, which evened the series at a game apiece, improved to 11-22 overall
and 3-10 in the ACC. The Wolfpack fell to 20-18 and 6-8. Stuart (2-4), who
allowed all five NC State runs, walked three and struck out three in 7 2/3 innings.
Kenny Beck pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up his first save of the
season. NC State starter Dan D'Amato (4-5) allowed five runs, four of them
earned, on nine hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out two.
The lead see-sawed back and forth through the early innings. Jeremy Dutton got
the Wolfpack started in the bottom of the first with a double down the left-field
line, the first of a career-high three doubles on the evening for Dutton. He took
third on a groundout and scored on Jamey Shearin's infield single.
Maryland came back with a pair of runs in the top of the second. John McCurdy
led off with a bloop single to right field, and Chuck Easter's grounder went
through the right side for a hit, putting runners on first and second with none out.
Sean Lomas bunted the runners to second and third, and McCurdy scored the
tying run on Anthony Buffone's infield single to the right side. The Terps took a
2-1 lead when Matt Swope's lazy fly ball down the right-field line fell in for an
RBI single. Swope was cut down trying to stretch the hit into a double.
David Hicks led off the bottom of the second for the Wolfpack with an infield
single and went to second on Stuart's overthrow at first base. Justin Riley
doubled down the left-field line to tie the score at 2-2, and two outs later Dutton
hit his second double in as many innings, driving in Riley and putting the
Wolfpack on top at 3-2.
The Wolfpack's lead was short-lived. Brian Patenaude led off the top of the third
with a double to left, and Steve Oursler walked. Ray Gemmill singled to left, but
Matt Butler's throw from left field nailed Patenaude at the plate for the first out.
After D'Amato struck out McCurdy for the second out, Easter singled to center
field to drive in Oursler with the tying run, and Gemmill scored the go-ahead run
when Brian Wright overran the ball for an error. Easter went all the way to third
on the play and scored on Lomas's double down the left-field line, giving
Maryland a 5-3 lead.
The game settled down after that. Daniel Caldwell relieved D'Amato to start the
top of the sixth, and Preston Taylor greeted him with a solo home run to left field
to make it 6-3. The Wolfpack, meanwhile, kept putting runners on base and
leaving them there, stranding one in the third, one in the fourth, one in the fifth
and two more in the sixth.
The Pack finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the seventh. Shearin
led off with a double, his third hit of the game and his sixth of the series. Colt
Morton walked. After Sean Walsh bunted the runners to second and third, David
Hicks blooped an RBI single into shallow left field to cut the Maryland lead to 6-4,
but Stuart got out of the inning by rolling a double-play grounder.
The Terps got that run back in the top of the eighth. Lomas led off with a single
up the middle and Buffone walked. With pinch-hitter Jeremy Suarez attempting to
sacrifice, Lomas stole third when the Wolfpack defense left the bag uncovered.
Suarez grounded out to drive in Lomas and give Maryland a 7-4 lead.
NC State cut the lead back to two with a run in the bottom of the eighth. Butler
led off with a double to left and came around to score on Dutton's third double of
the game, the Wolfpack's sixth two-bagger of the game.
