NCAA REGIONALS
WESTERN CAROLINA 9, EAST CAROLINA 5
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? Western Carolina rallied behind five solid innings of relief work from senior Brock Thornburg and home runs from classmates Kenny Smith and John Ingram to snap a 13-game losing skid to the East Carolina Pirates with a come-from-behind, 9-5, victory Sunday evening in NCAA Baseball Regional action at Boshamer Stadium.
Western (42-19) advances to Chapel Hill regional championship game against the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels (50-12) needing two wins on Monday to advance to the school’s first-ever appearance in a NCAA Super Regional. First pitch of game one is set for 1:00 pm, with the second game (if necessary) scheduled for 50 minutes following the conclusion of the first game. East Carolina was eliminated from the regional, finishing with an overall record of 40-23.
Tossing five and a third innings in relief of sophomore starter Corey Martin, Thornburg (4-2) only allowed two runs, one of which was earned, on five hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts. In his last five relief appearances, the Hickory, N.C., native has only given up a pair of runs, with just one of those runs earned during the same stretch. Freshman left-hander Chris Masters came on to pitch the final two and a third of hitless and scoreless relief to earn his first career save, fanning four including two in the top of the ninth inning.
"It was a great game from our perspective,” said Western Carolina head coach Todd Raleigh. “I thought we battled really hard after not getting off to a good start. We did not get a really good start from our starting pitcher, but Brock (Thornburg) and Chris (Masters) came in and really slammed the door. This team has a lot of heart and fought back all year, so it was a great win for us."
Thornburg entered the game with runners on second and third and just one out in the top of the second. He got the first batter he faced to foul out to Ingram at first before inducing a fly ball out to right field to end the inning, holding WCU’s deficit at three.
"I just tried to throw strikes and let my defense help me,” said Thornburg in the post-game press conference. “I got two pop flies and I think that inning really swung the momentum our way."
Trailing 3-0 after the top of the second inning, Western turned on the offense in the home half of the frame as Smith hammered the first pitch he saw over the fence in left field for a solo shot to trim the deficit to two, 3-1. The 20th long ball by the Asheville, N.C., native gave him 84 runs batted in on the season, tying Chris Moore (1999) for the WCU single-season RBI record.
The Catamount rally continued as the ensuing batter, junior Jonathan Greene, was plunked by Pirate starting pitcher, Josh Dowdy. Ingram reached base on an infield single that was ruled to have hit Greene as he was trying to advance to second on the play, forcing out the lead runner. WCU did manage to load the bases, though, when freshman third baseman Nick Liles drew a one-out walk and Dowdy hit a second batter, senior Donnie Wilson. Freshman Brent Greer cleared the bases with a double to right center field to give Western its first lead, 4-3, after two complete.
East Carolina managed to manufacture a run in the top of the third as the red-hot Stephen Batts doubled and was scored from third by an RBI single from Friday’s Pirate hero, Jamie Ray, to knot the game at four apiece. Yet, the Catamounts continued to hit Pirate pitching as Ingram, with Greene aboard, smashed a two-run, tape-measure home run over the left field wall to put the Catamounts ahead for good, 6-4.
ECU added another run in the fourth on catcher Corey Kemp scored on a Catamount passed ball to pull the Pirates within one, 6-5. That was as close as the Pirates would get as in the home half of the fifth, junior Steven Strausbaugh led off with an infield bunt single, hustling down the first-base line to beat out the throw. Ingram plated his third hit ? and third RBI of the day ? on a triple off the center field wall to give the Catamounts a 7-5 lead after five innings.
With Masters cruising in relief, Western added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth as junior Barrett Shaft singled to left driving in Wilson from first after an error by the Pirate leftfielder, Ray. Junior Blake Murphy, despite being 0-for-5 at the plate, drove in the game’s final run on a sharp ground out at second base.
Three Catamounts posted multiple hit games for the Catamounts on Sunday with Ingram tallying a game-high three hits (3-for-4), including finishing a double shy of hitting for the cycle, with three RBI. Greene was 2-for-3, drawing his school-record 22nd HBP, while Shaft, again battling severe shin splints, tallied two base hits in a 2-for-5 outing.
Monday’s games will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee or online at www.WWCUFM.com <http://www.wwcufm.com/> . Fans can also follow all of the action on live GameTracker by logging onto www.CatamountSports.com <http://www.catamountsports.com/> .
NORTH CAROLINA STATE 10, WOFFORD 6
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Southern Conference champion Wofford baseball team ended its postseason run with a 10-6 loss to North Carolina State Sunday afternoon in the elimination round of the Columbia regional at Sarge Frye Field.
N.C. State outfielder Jeremy Synan drove in three runs and scored twice while going 2-for-3 with a home run. Dallas Poulk and Mike Roskopf added two RBIs apiece while Clayton Schunick (6-3) picked up the win for the Wolfpack. Schunick held Wofford to just one run on three hits over the first five innings before Wofford tagged the right hander for four runs in the sixth inning.
Terrier shortstop Michael Gilmartin knocked a home run and scored twice while going 2-for-4 with a double. Designated hitter/infielder Shane Kirkley was a home run shy of the cycle and set a school record with his 41st career double. Utility player John Brandt also added two RBIs with a home run while Sterling Dye and Brandon Waring each added an RBI.
Wofford matched N.C. State with 13 hits, but could not figure out reliever Joey Cutler, who held the Terriers to two hits over the final 2 2/3 innings to pick up the save.
N.C. State claimed a 1-0 lead in the third inning before Wofford tied it at 1-1 in the same frame. The Wolfpack reclaimed the lead with two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth before rallying for five runs in the top of the sixth. Wofford cut the deficit to 9-5 with four runs in the bottom of the sixth but could only match N.C. State with one more run over the final three innings.
Wofford starter Austin Redwine cruised through the first two inning, facing six batters while allowing only one hit. The Wolfpack finally got on the board in the third, however, after a wild pitch allowed outfielder Synan to score from third. Synan legged out an infield single to begin the inning and advanced to second after Drew Martin was hit by a pitch. Leadoff hitter Dallas Poulk then moved the runners into scoring position with a groundout to the pitcher before Redwine misfired to the plate to allow Synan to score for an early 1-0 Wolfpack lead.
Gilmartin knotted the game at 1-1 with a solo homer in the bottom of the third. The blast to straight away center field was the 14th of the season for Gilmartin, who set a school record this season for the most home runs by a freshman. The round tripper also gave the Terrier leadoff hitter his 50th RBI of the season, becoming the fourth Wofford hitter this season to reach the 50-RBI plateau.
Roskopf broke the tie in the next half inning with a two-run shot off the scoreboard in right center field. The go-ahead blast drove in shortstop Ramon Corona after Corona squeaked a single through the left side to open the inning. Redwine then settled down and retired three of the next four batters to end the fourth.
Kirkley led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, but the Terriers could not capitalize on the opportunity as an inning-ending double play bailed N.C. State starter Clayton Schunick out of the jam. The two-bagger was the 41st of Kirkley's career, which surpasses the previous school record of 40 held by Steve Casey.
A two-out RBI double by Corona put the Wolfpack up 4-1 in the top of the fifth. With Poulk on second following a bunt single and a throwing error, Corona roped a line drive off the center field wall to send the N.C. State second baseman across the plate. The base knock was the third of the game for Corona.
Synan added a two-run homer in the sixth to begin a five-run rally as N.C. State claimed a 9-1 lead. The shot to center field came after first baseman Pat Ferguson walked and prompted Wofford to bring in right-handed reliever Charles Vartanian. Following a walk to catcher Caleb Mangum, the Wolfpack strung together three straight doubles from Martin, Poulk and Marcus Jones to add three more runs. Senior Lance Player then took the mound for Wofford with one runner on base and struck out Corona before forcing Roskopf to ground out to end the inning.
Wofford reclaimed four of the runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 9-5. Gilmartin started the rally with a leadoff double to right field before advancing to third base on a passed ball. Kirkley sent the Terrier leadoff hitter across the plate with a base knock up the middle before Brandt mashed a two-run homer to left center field. First baseman Adam Wood then ripped a single to center field while right fielder Sterling Dye mashed a double to right center to score Wood from first base.
N.C. State added another run in the seventh to reclaim a five-run lead. Wolfpack outfielder Ryan Pond reached second base on a double to begin the inning and moved to third on a single to left field by Ferguson. With runners at the corners and no outs, Wofford brought in southpaw Chip Hunt to get an out and the junior did his job by forcing Synan to fly out to left field. Pond scored on the sacrifice fly, however, and Wofford moved Gilmartin to the mound to face Mangum. Mangum ripped a ground ball through the left side to put runners at first and second, but Gilmartin forced ground ball to Eric Sturkie at shortstop and he flipped to Kirkley who converted the inning-ending double play.
Wofford's All-American third baseman Brandon Waring knocked in a run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to 10-6. The RBI single drove in Sturkie from third after the shortstop singled up the middle to open the inning. Wofford threatened to score again with the bases loaded and one out, but N.C. State reliever Joey Cutler took the mound and ended the threat with two straight strikeouts to preserve the four-run lead.
Cutler worked out of another jam in the eighth as Wofford put two runners on base, but could not come up with a run. After Cutler retired the first two batters, Sturkie doubled and Gilmartin walked, but another strikeout ended the inning with the lead intact.
Waring singled in the ninth, but Wofford could not put together a rally as Cutler struck out the final two batters to end the game.
Redwine (7-6) took the loss for Wofford after allowing six runs on seven hits through 5 1/3 innings. Vartanian, Player, Hunt and Gilmartin all contributed inning out of the bullpen while Gilmartin was the most effective with 2 2/3 innings of one-hit baseball.