Baseball ACCtion: Sunday, April 6 :: BC, FSU, Miami, NC State complete series sweeps on Sunday.

April 6, 2008

Florida State Sweeps Series Against Virginia With 3-2 Win In 10

Tallahassee, Fla. - It was déjà vu at the ballpark on Sunday as Florida State (28-3, 13-1) duplicated a 3-2, 10 inning victory in game one with a 3-2, 10 inning victory in game two to sweep the three-game series against Virginia (24-9, 8-7). Freshman Tyler Holt drove home high school teammate Luke Smierciak on an infield chopper to third for the winning run in the bottom of the tenth.

The bottom of the tenth began the same way as it did in game one as Smierciak was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Mike McGee. After Virginia reliever Michael Schwimer (1-1) got behind 3-0 to Stephen Cardullo, the Cavaliers decided to put Cardullo aboard with an intentional walk. On ball four, Schwimer unleashed a wild pitch throwing to the back stop and moving Smierciak to third. With Holt at the plate, the freshman center fielder worked the count full after falling behind 1-2 and on the eighth pitch of the at-bat sent a high chopper to Tyler Cannon at third. Smierciak running on contact, easily beat Cannon's throw at the plate to give the Seminoles the three-game sweep.

The Seminoles once again received another outstanding performance by their pitching staff as starter Elih Villanueva went 7.2 innings, tying a career-high with nine strikeouts. The junior right hander allowed two runs, one earned, on eight hits. He settled down after a shaky start and retired nine straight Cavalier batters at one point while facing no more than four batters in each inning from the third through the seventh.

Walk-Off Hit By Jack Rye Leads FSU Past Virginia 3-2 In 10 Innings

Tallahassee, Fla. - It took extra innings but Florida State (27-3, 13-1) prevailed with a 3-2 victory over Virginia (24-8, 8-6) in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday at Dick Howser Stadium. The Seminoles captured their 15th ACC series in the last 16 thanks to a walk-off bases loaded single by Jack Rye in the bottom of the 10th. Rye was responsible for two of the three Seminole runs on Sunday as the senior right fielder finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk.

Ryan Strauss earned the win as the senior right hander made just his second relief appearance of the season. Coming off a season-best performance against the Florida Gators last Tuesday, Strauss fired three shutout innings without giving up a hit. The Tampa, Fla., native struck out six of the 10 batters that he faced to move his record to 4-0 on the year.

Seminole starter Geoff Parker threw a career-high seven innings while posting a career-high seven strikeouts in earning a no decision in his second start of the season. He matched Pat McAnaney, the ACC leader in ERA, pitch for pitch to give the Garnet and Gold a solid effort on the mound.

Flack Sets Career Hit Mark In Split For No. 3 Carolina

CARY, N.C. - Senior third baseman Chad Flack became North Carolina's career hits leader Sunday as the No. 3 Tar Heels split a doubleheader with No. 14 Georgia Tech at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex. Carolina (25-6, 10-4 ACC) claimed a 10-4 win in the first game to secure the series victory before the Yellow Jackets (25-7, 9-6 ACC) grabbed a 4-1 win in the finale.

Flack was 2-for-4 with two RBI in game one to tie Chad Prosser's record of 291 and then broke the five-year-old mark with a single to right in the sixth inning of game two. The record-setting hit also extended Flack's current hitting streak to 14 games, which matches his career best. With 292 career base hits, Flack ranks 21st in ACC history.

In addition to Flack's record setting day, second baseman Kyle Seager hit safely in both games to extend his hitting streak to 27 games, which stands as the fourth longest in school history. Seager was 3-for-5 with three RBI in game one victory, and followed with two hits and a fourth RBI in the second contest. Right fielder Tim Fedroff had three hits on the day to push his career-best hitting streak to 11 games.

Jackets and Tar Heels Split Sunday Baseball Doubleheader

CARY, N.C. - Zach Von Tersch tossed seven shutout innings to help No. 14 Georgia Tech to a doubleheader split against No. 3 North Carolina Sunday afternoon at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

After the Yellow Jackets lost the first game of the doubleheader, 10-4, Von Tersch (4-1) scattered four hits over seven innings while striking out five to help the Yellow Jackets to a 4-1 win in the series finale, thus avoiding a series sweep at the hands of the Tar Heels.

The Yellow Jacket sophomore faced just two over the minimum through the first four innings and allowed just three runners past first base while tying a career-high with seven innings pitched.

NC State Baseball Sweeps Wake Forest, 14-4 and 18-6

RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State extended hits season-best winning streak to six games Sunday with a pair of one-sided victories over Wake Forest at Doak Field at Dail Park. The Wolfpack won the opener 14-4 behind four home runs and strong pitching from Eric Surkamp, then took the nightcap 18-6 with season highs for runs scored and base hits with 23.

The sweep - combined with losses by Clemson, Virginia (swept in a doubleheader by Florida State) and Georgia Tech (split a doubleheader with North Carolina) - lifts NC State into fourth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference's overall standings and in second in the Atlantic Division. The Pack is now 20-9 overall and 8-6 in the ACC. NC State trails first-place Florida State by 5 ½ games, but now enjoys comfortable margins over Clemson (6-9) and Wake Forest (5-9, 12-18 overall).

NC State won both games with early offensive onslaughts. Jeremy Synan belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning of the first game, and Chris Schaeffer added a solo shot in the bottom of the second. The Wolfpack put the game safely away with four runs in the fourth with RBI singles by Schaeffer and Dallas Poulk, and a two-run double by Tommy Foschi.

Lazar's Home Run Leads Terps to Series Victory at Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Fresman Curtis Lazar made his first-career home run an important one, launching a game-deciding three-run shot in the top of the sixth inning to open up a tie game and drove in another run to lead the Maryland baseball team to a 5-2 victory Sunday in the rubber match of a three-game series at Virginia Tech.

With the win, the Terps (18-14, 5-10 ACC) won their first conference series of the season and first road ACC series since last March at NC State.

The Terps scored in the top of the first inning for the third straight game. Second baseman Steve Braun (Granada Hills, Calif./Pierce CC) started things off with a double down the left field line. Mike Murphy (Silver Spring, Md./Georgetown Prep) sacrificed Braun to third and designated hitter Jensen Pupa (Germantown, Md./Northwest) drove in a run with a ground-out to first base.

The Terps went up 2-0 in the top of the fourth on another RBI ground-out to first off the bat of Lazar (Stafford, Va./Mountain View).

Big Innings Lead to BC Win against Duke, 11-6

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Boston College tallied 13 hits and had four players with multi-hit games to defeat Duke, 11-6, on Sunday afternoon at Commander Shea Field. With the win, the Eagles swept the three-game series against the Blue Devils after taking both games of a doubleheader on Saturday. BC is now 16-14 overall, 5-10 in the ACC, while Duke is 21-10, 4-10 in ACC play.

Tony Sanchez led the Eagles 13-hit attack with three singles in five plate appearances. The sophomore catcher added a run scored and a RBI on the afternoon.

Garret Smith, Sam Shaughnessy and John Spatola each went 2-for-4 in the victory. Smith collected a double and two RBI. Shaughnessy tripled and added two RBI and Spatola chipped in with a RBI triple.

Eric Campbell and Mickey Wiswall each added a double, two runs scored and two RBI.

BC starter James MacDonald (3-4) worked the first five innings to register his third win of the season, his first in ACC competition. The junior did not allow an earned run and struck out four.

No. 2 Miami Completes Sweep of Clemson, 7-6

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Junior right-hander Rene Guerra earned his first career win and Dave DiNatale smacked a three-run homer in the fifth that proved to be the difference as the No. 2 ranked Miami baseball team finished off the sweep of Clemson with a 7-6 win Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field. The Hurricanes improved to 26-2 overall and 12-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play while Clemson fell to 18-13 on the season and 6-9 in league play.

Guerra, who came on in relief of starter Michael Rudman in the fourth inning, held Clemson scoreless for 1 2/3 innings, becoming the 10th different Hurricane to record a win this season. Rudman made his first career start and allowed three runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings and struck out four. Three more relievers, P.J. Fisher, Anthony Nalepa and Kyle Bellamy bridged the gap over the next 2 1/3 innings before closer Carlos Gutierrez earned his second two-inning save of the weekend, throwing perfect eighth and ninth innings to earn his eighth save.

DiNatale finished the game 1-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Second baseman Jemile Weeks was the lone Hurricane to finish with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored.

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