Baseball ACCtion: Saturday, May 3 :: BC sweeps Maryland, FSU edges Clemson; Miami wins, NC State, Georgia Tech fall in non-conference.

May 4, 2008

BC Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader, 5-4 in 10 innings and 7-5

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Boston College (24-24, 8-19 ACC) swept a doubleheader against the Maryland Terrapins (26-24, 8-19 ACC), with a 5-4 win in 10 innings in game one and 7-5 victory in game two on Saturday afternoon at Commander Shea Field.

Game 1 - BC 5, MD 4 (10)
Pinch-hitter Harry Darling was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to plate Eric Campbell with the winning run as the Eagles defeated Maryland, 5-4.

Tony Sanchez led the offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate and also knocked in a run. Michael Belfiore contributed a hit, run scored and RBI, while Perdios and Darling each collected a RBI.

Belfiore (2-0) worked 1.1 innings of perfect relief out of the bullpen to earn the victory. Terry Doyle tossed the first six innings, as the senior allowed three runs on five hits with six strikeouts.

Game 2 - BC 7, MD 5
John Leonard (4-0) pitched 5.2 innings in relief of James MacDonald to help defeat the Terrapins, 7-5, in game two of the doubleheader and sweep the three-game series.

Leonard recorded two strikeouts and scattered two runs on four hits in the win. Belfiore collected the final two outs to earn his seventh save of season.

Barry Butera tallied two hits, run scored and one RBI in the win for the Eagles. Matt Hamlet chipped in with a double, run scored and RBI, while Garret Smith scored two runs and added a hit and RBI.

Florida State Slips Past Clemson 9-8 In 10 Innings

Clemson, S.C. - Third-ranked Florida State (38-7, 20-5 ACC) scored all nine of its runs in the final three innings including four in the tenth to cap off a 9-8 victory over Clemson (24-21-1, 10-14-1) Saturday evening in game one of a three game set. The win snapped a four-game losing streak to the Tigers at Doug Kingsmore Field as it was the first FSU win at Clemson since May 2, 2004.

Florida State moved to 11-2 in one-run games and 4-1 in extra innings. Eleven of the 13 one-run games have occurred against ACC teams while four have resulted in walk-off victories.

After being held scoreless on just four hits through the first seven innings, Florida State erupted for nine runs on 11 hits in the eighth, ninth and tenth innings. The first four Seminoles to come to the plate in the tenth recorded a hit including an RBI double off the wall to dead center by Dennis Guinn and an RBI single by Tony Delmonico. Jack Rye led off the inning singling to left center and came all the way around to score on Guinn's 15th two-bagger of the season.

Delmonico would score the third run of the inning on a strikeout, throw out at second. A single by pinch hitter Ohmed Danesh moved Delmonico to third and after a strikeout by Mike McGee, Danesh was thrown out trying to steal second. Delmonico came charging home on the play and just slid safely ahead of the tag. With two outs, Stuart Tapley drew a four pitch walk and advanced 90 feet on a base hit by Tyler Holt. The eventual game-winning run came a play later as Jason Stidham lofted a pop up to Matt Sanders at third. The Tiger third baseman couldn't handle the ball as it tipped off his glove allowing Tapley to score from second making the score 9-5.

Tapley finished the game reaching base on all five plate appearances. He was a perfect 2-for-2 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He scored three times and drove in a run. Rye was 3-for-4 with a double and two singles, while Holt and Stidham each collected a pair of hits.

The Tigers would not go quietly scoring three more runs in the bottom of the tenth on a homer by Kyle Parker to make it a one-run ball game. The Seminoles went to the pen and brought on Buster Posey for his first relief appearance since April 2. The junior right hander gave up a double to Ben Paulsen but settled down getting Doug Hogan looking on strikes for out number two. After Wilson Boyd drew a walk, Posey got Stan Widmann to line out to Tapley at third for the final out and his fifth save of the season.

Erickson Pitches No. 1 Miami Past Saint Mary's, 5-0

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Sophomore left-hander Eric Erickson allowed just two hits in seven scoreless innings and junior first baseman Yonder Alonso hit his second home run of the series and his third in the last four games as No. 1 Miami shut out Saint Mary's (Calif.), 5-0, Saturday night at Mark Light Field. Miami (38-5), behind Erickson's best outing of the season, held the Gaels (22-21-1) hitless over the final six innings to win its 11th straight weekend series to open the season.

Miami's three pitchers - Erickson, Kyle Bellamy and Carlos Gutierrez - combined to hold SMC to just two hits all night, the lowest hit total by a Hurricane opponent this season. Erickson struck out seven as he improved to 7-0 with the win. Bellamy and Gutierrez came on in the eighth and ninth innings respectively to preserve UM's third shutout in the last five games.

Alonso finished the night 1-for-2 with two RBI and two runs scored. He hit a two-run homer that scored Jemile Weeks for the second consecutive night. Ryan Jackson was the lone Hurricane with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a double, a single and a hit-by-pitch and a run scored. Weeks (1-for-2) and Adan Severino (1-for-3) picked up UM's other two RBI.

No. 15 Coastal Carolina Holds Off Georgia Tech, 10-9

ATLANTA - David Sappelt's three-run home run highlighted a five-run second inning that helped No. 15 Coastal Carolina (38-10) even the weekend series against Georgia Tech (32-14) as the Chanticleers held off a Yellow Jacket comeback to win, 10-9, Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.

Sappelt added another home run, a solo shot, in the top of the fourth and finished the day 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBI to pace the Chanticleer's offense on the day. Tommy Baldridge also had a team-high four hits for Coastal on the afternoon.

After breezing through the first inning, Yellow Jacket starter Eddie Burns ran into trouble with two outs in the second when Rico Noel hit a two-run single before Sappelt delivered his first home run of the game over the center field wall to give Coastal Carolina a 5-0 lead. Burns (5-4) suffered his fourth loss of the season and was lifted after giving up the five runs on five hits in two innings of work.

No. 18 NC State Baseball Loses Comeback Bid To High Point, 9-6

RALEIGH, N.C. - Randy Schwartz drove a one-out, bases-loaded double off the center-field wall Saturday night to highlight a ninth-inning rally that lifted High Point to a dramatic 9-6 win over 18th-ranked NC State at Doak Field at Dail Park.

Schwartz's drive off Wolfpack closer Jimmy Gillheeney came after NC State had overcome a 6-0 deficit to tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh. The Panthers, who won for the fifth time in seven games and the 14th time in their last 20 games, rallied in the ninth to improve to 18-24. The Wolfpack had its four-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the fifth time in its last 22 games to fall to 31-14.

The harshest irony for NC State was that freshman reliever Jake Buchanan was tagged with the loss after turning in one of the most impressive performances by an NC State pitcher this season. Buchanan was summoned from the bullpen to begin the third inning after High Point worked over starter Eric Surkamp for six runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batter in just two innings of work. Billy Alvino's sacrifice fly and Matt Gantner's RBI groundout gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, and a two-run single by Kyle Mahoney and a two-run home run by Chris Norwood in the top of the second made it 6-0.