Baseball Drops Matchup With No. 9 NC State

May 24, 2013

DURHAM, N.C. – Facing an early deficit for the second straight game, the Miami Hurricanes fell to ninth-ranked NC State 7-1 on day three of the 2013 ACC Baseball Championship at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The eight-seeded Hurricanes (35-23) found themselves trailing by the second inning Friday afternoon, as the Wolfpack (44-13) plated four runs in the frame to jump out to a 4-0 advantage.

A weakly hit grounder towards first by NC State designated hitter Jake Armstrong scored the opening run, while an error on a fielder’s choice made it 2-0 in favor of the Wolfpack. Sophomore lefthander Chris Diaz (6-5) nearly got out of the jam by inducing a deep groundball from Trea Turner towards shortstop Brandon Lopez, but the freshman’s throw to first wasn’t in time to catch the speedy Turner. Two runs scored on the play, as the Miami deficit moved to 4-0.

After the team’s defensive miscues in the second, junior Alex Hernandez made a jaw-dropping catch just an inning later, fully extending on a dive to rob Grant Clyde of a basehit. The impressive play was one of many on the day for Hernandez, who delivered a dazzling defensive performance. Diaz then struck out Brett Williams, one of his five strikeouts on the day, to end the inning.

The Hurricanes got one back in the third after loading the bases with just one out. With Alex Hernandez (walk), Chantz Mack (single) and David Thompson (single) on base, NC State starter Logan Jernigan walked junior Brad Fieger to force in a run. With his line-drive single, Thompson reached base for the 24th consecutive game – the longest stretch of any player this season.

Jernigan did well to limit the damage, however, getting a flyout from Garrett Kennedy and a groundout from Roger Gonzalez to maintain his team’s lead at 4-1.

Miami had a prime opportunity to cut into State’s lead in the fifth, but came up empty on an impressive defensive sequence from the fourth-seeded Wolfpack. After Jernigan issued back-to-back walks to Hernandez and Mack to open the frame, he was pulled in favor of reliever Andrew Woeck. The righthander induced a grounder that nearly resulted in a triple play, but Thompson reached first just ahead of the throw. Woeck (6-1) then got a foul out from Fieger to end the threat.

The Wolfpack tacked on runs in the fifth and sixth, taking a 6-1 lead on an RBI single from Bryan Adametz and a sacrifice fly from Brett Austin. That was all Woeck would need, as the righthander helped finish off the game with three strong innings of relief to drop Miami to 0-2 in Pool A.

The eighth-seeded Hurricanes will return to Durham Bulls Athletic Park Saturday for their Championship finale with fifth-seeded Clemson. First pitch for the contest, set to be televised on RSN and ESPN3, is set for 3 p.m.