Maryland
NC State
No. 5 N.C. State Staves Off Sweep, 7-4
5/4/2003 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 4, 2003
Raleigh, N.C. - The Maryland Terrapins (18-29, 6-14 ACC) jumped out to an early lead in their attempt to sweep No. 5 N.C. State (38-12, 14-7 ACC), but couldn't stave off a late rally, falling 7-4 on Sunday at Doak Field.
Nevertheless, the Terps won their third consecutive ACC weekend series, taking the first two games by scores of 5-2 and 8-7. The wins were the team's fourth and fifth of the season against ranked opponents, and Maryland has already matched its ACC win total from last year with three games left to play.
Maryland's first three hitters in the lineup - freshman Mike Costantino (Somerset, Mass.), junior Anthony Buffone (Manalapan, N.J.) and redshirt senior Ray Gemmill (Silver Spring, Md.) - each collected two hits in Sunday's game, with Buffone slamming his first home run of the year and Buffone and Gemmill each collecting two RBIs.
For the weekend, every Terp hitter collected at least three hits and eight of the nine starters had an RBI, making the two victories truly a team effort.
On Sunday, Maryland jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on Wolfpack starter Nate Cretarolo on Buffone's two-run home run in the first and Gemmill's RBI single in the second.
The Wolfpack added a run in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly, and would score in four of the next six innings.
With star players Joe Gaetti and Colt Morton out nursing injuries, bench player Tim Coffield picked up the slack, going 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs, including a go-ahead 2-RBI double in the seventh inning off of reliever Brooks Norris (Baltimore, Md.).
Sophomore Josh Andrews (Monrovia, Md.), who came on in relief of redshirt senior Todd Ainsworth (Hershey, Pa.), took the hard-luck loss, putting the two go-ahead runners on but exiting in favor of Norris.
Maryland has six games left on the schedule, five of which will be played at home following a nine-game road streak. First up is an away game Tuesday at Navy, at 3 p.m.
