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May 18, 2002
RALEIGH, N.C. – The University of Virginia baseball team committed nineerrors en route to dropping a 10-8 decision to the North Carolina StateWolfpack in UVa’s final regular season contest. It was also the second gameof a doubleheader between the two schools and was the last game played atN.C. State’s Doak Field. The Cavaliers fell behind by the score of 9-0through five innings of play before scoring eight unanswered runs to pullwithin one run of the Wolfpack. However, UVa couldn’t get any closer andNCSU added an insurance run to post a two-run victory to earn a three-gameseries sweep over Virginia.
N.C. State took and early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning whenJoe Gaetti (single) and Brian Wright (reached base on an error) each scored arun. Gaetti scored on a RBI-single by Justin Riley before Wright scored on aRBI fielder’s choice by Matt Butler. The Wolfpack extended their lead to 7-0in the bottom of the second inning by scoring five runs in the inning.
N.C. State pushed its lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning whenColt Morton (single) and Matt Butler (walk) each scored on a run. Butlerscored on a sacrifice fly RBI to center field by Adam Hargrave.
The Cavaliers finally got on the scoreboard, and in a big way, by scoringseven runs in the top of the sixth inning to make it a 9-7 ballgame. MattStreet got things started when he connected on a two-run home run (his sixthof the year) to left-center field to make it 9-2 before Mark Reynoldsrecorded his 15th home run (team-high) of the season three batters later witha three-run shot to left field, making the score 9-5. Two batters later,Chris Sweet hit a RBI-double down the left field line to score Rob Newton(walk) to pull the Cavaliers within three runs of the Wolfpack at 9-6. UVathen cut NCSU’s lead to two runs at 9-7 when Stone scored Sweet with a RBIsacrifice bunt before the Wolfpack finally got out of the inning.
The Cavaliers scored their eighth unanswered run of the game in the top ofthe seventh inning when Sweet drove in D. Street with a RBI-single throughthe right side to make it a 9-8 contest. But N.C. State finally brokeVirginia’s scoring run by adding an insurance run in the bottom of the eighthinning on the Cavaliers’ ninth error of the game when Chad Orvella scoredfrom third base on a throwing error to give the Wolfpack a 10-8 lead.
UVa starting pitcher Greg Hansard (1-3) went five innings and surrenderednine runs (four earned) on ten hits with one strikeout in the loss. NCSUstarting pitcher Daniel Caldwell (7-7) pitched five scoreless innings andallowed only three hits to go along with six strikeouts to earn the win.Relief pitcher Ryan Combs closed out the game and recorded his second save ofthe season by pitching four complete innings while allowing three runs on sixhits with four strikeouts.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 25-30 overall, 8-16 in the ACC.The victory improves N.C. State’s record to 32-24 overall, 7-17 in theconference. The win also gave NCSU a three-game sweep over UVa in theweekend series.
The Cavaliers will return to action on Wednesday, May 22nd when UVa competesin its first game of the 29th Annual Atlantic Coast Conference BaseballTournament. Virginia, the #6 seed in the tournament, will play the #3 seed(an opponent yet to be determined) at 8:30 p.m. at Florida Power Park in St.Petersburg, Fla. UVa will depart Charlottesville, Va. early Monday (May20th) morning to travel south to St. Petersburg. The 2002 ACC BaseballTournament will run from May 21-26 and is a double-elimination event. Lastseason, the Cavaliers finished 1-2 in the 2001 ACC Tournament after defeatingClemson in their first contest before falling to Wake Forest and N.C. State.
— UVa —