April 17, 2004

Box Score

Raleigh, N.C. - NC State evened the weekend series at one game apiece, taking a 7-2 victory against Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon at Doak Field in Raleigh.

The Deacons fell behind early, giving up two runs in the bottom of the first on just one hit off starter Kyle Young.

Then in the third inning, NC State sent eight batters to the plate and scored three runs.

Meanwhile, Wolfpack starter Vern Sterry held the Deacon offense scoreless through his six innings of work. He limited Wake Forest to just three hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.

The Deacons trailed 5-0 heading into the fifth inning and let a golden opportunity to crawl back into the game go by the wayside. Wake Forest loaded the bases with just one out, but Sterry struck out last night's hero, Casey Sterk, and got Nick Blue to fly out to end the inning.

In the ninth, Wake Forest loaded the bases again, putting the tying run on deck, with the score 7-2. But Wolfpack reliever Adam McLaurin got Ben Ingold to bounce into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Wake Forest collected only two runs on seven hits, two walks and two NC State errors. The Deacons stranded 10 runners on Saturday, including seven in scoring position. Wake Forest was a collective 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and failed to record an extra base hit.

Nick Blue's single in the ninth extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games. Brad Scioletti was 2-for-4.

Young took the loss for the Deacons, going six innings, allowing six earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks. His season record fell to 3-4 overall. Sterry picked up the win to improve to 7-1. The ACC's ERA leader now owns a career record of 18-1.

The rubber match of the weekend series is tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. Junior left-hander Tim Morley will start for the Deacons against NC State's Phillip Davidson.