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No. 25 Cavaliers Edged By No. 21 NC State, 8-7
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March 28, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. – Matt Camp and Lee Mezistrano had two hits and scoredtwo runs apiece, and Phillip Davidson pitched 2 1/3 innings ofsterlingrelief Sunday to lift 21st-ranked NC State past No. 25 Virginia, 8-7,in thefinal and deciding game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conferenceseries atDoak Field.
The Wolfpack improved to 17-8 overall with the victory and evenedits ACC record at 3-3. Virginia fell to 20-7 overall and 5-4 in theACC.Davidson (3-1) allowed one run on two hits, walked one and struck outthree.Joey Devine faced four men and retired them all to record his eighthsave ofthe season. Virginia starter Joe Koshansky (4-1) took the loss afterallowing seven runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two andstruckout three.
For the third time in as many games in the series, the winning teamjumped to an early lead by hanging a crooked number on the scoreboardin thefirst inning. Camp led off with a triple to right-center and Tim Holtwalkedand stole second. Jason St. Julien singled to left to drive in Camp,andHolt came around to score when left fielder Matt Dunn overran the ballforan error.
Mezistrano led off the bottom of the second with a double to rightand went to third on Jake Muyco’s sacrifice bunt. Koshansky hit RyanJohnsonwith a pitch, and Camp beat out a dribbler to first base for a single,scoring Mezistrano. Johnson went to third when first baseman JoshDarby’sthrow got away from Koshansky covering the bag. Tim Holt broughtJohnsonhome with a squeeze bunt, and David Hicks singled to right to drive inCampand make it 5-0.
The Cavaliers clawed their way back into the game in the top of thethird. With one out, Tim Henry doubled down the left-field line andwent tothird on Matt Street’s single to left. Mark Reynolds drove in Henrywith aninfield single, and Ryan Zimmerman singled to left to drive in Streetandmake it 5-2. Koshansky then ripped a two-run double to right-center,scoringReynolds and Zimmerman and cutting the lead to 5-4. The rallyshort-circuited when NC State starter Derek McKee picked Koshansky offsecond base, and then struck out Darby for the third out.
The Wolfpack put three big runs on the board in the bottom of thesixth. With one out, Mezistrano doubled to center field and went tothird ona single to center by Muyco. Johnson laid down a bunt and beat it outon aclose play at first, driving in Mezistrano. Camp walked to load thebases.Reliever Casey Lambert hit Holt with a pitch to drive in Muyco, andHicksdrove in a run by grounding into a force play, giving NC State an 8-4lead.
Davidson, who entered the game to start the top of the fifth inning,walked Kyle Werman leading off the top of the seventh. With one down,Streetreached on an infield single to put runners on first and second. AdamMcLaurin came in to pitch for Davidson and immediately picked Wermanoffsecond for the second out of the inning, and a big out it was, becauseReynolds drilled McLaurin’s second pitch over the wall in left fieldfor atwo-run homer that cut the lead to 8-6.
Matt Dunn led off the top of the eighth with a walk and went tosecond on a groundout. Scott Headd walked and was forced at second baseon aground ball off the bat of Werman, with Dunn taking third on the play.Henry’s single to right scored Dunn to cut the lead to a run at 8-7,bringing Devine into the game. Devine needed just one pitch to retireStreeton a grounder to first to end the inning. Devine struck out Reynoldsleadingoff the top of the ninth and got Zimmerman to pop out before Koshanskydrilled a fastball to the deepest part of the ballpark for the finalout ofthe game.
NC State returns to action on Tuesday, March 30 against Old Dominionat Doak Field. Game time is 7 p.m. Virginia will begin a two-game series with Brown on Tuesday, also at 7 p.m. at the UVa Baseball Field.