ACC baseball

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on May 27, 2010 1:47 PM

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Courtesy theacc.com

GREENSBORO -- The regular-season sweep meant nothing.

North Carolina State strung together four consecutive RBI singles in a sixth-inning uprising, and stunned second-seeded Clemson 13-8 on day one of the 2010 ACC Baseball Championship.

The seventh-seeded Wolfpack (37-20 overall) have today off and will play Georgia Tech at 8 p.m. Friday. The Tigers return to action Friday against Virginia Tech.

N.C. State, which absorbed three losses to Clemson in regular-season play, turned a 4-3 deficit into an 8-4 advantage in the sixth. Kyle Wilson, Dallas Poulk, Harold Riggins and Andrew Ciencin each produced a run-scoring hit that sent the Tigers reeling.

Wilson and Poulk also homered for the Wolfpack, which continues to build an NCAA tournament resume.

"As a team, Clemson got the best of us the past two years," Wilson said. "With two out, the inning's not over. We have such a good lineup that if we get runners on base, we'll score with two outs."

The surge made a winner out of State starter Alex Sogard, a senior from Phoenix best known to Pack fans for securing the last out of the 2008 NCAA Super Regionals. Sogard allowed three earned runs in six innings against the Tigers to improve to 2-2 on the year.

"Throughout the year, we've been a heavy-hitting team," Sogard said. "We know as pitchers that if we can hold down the other team, eventually we'll break out."

Miami 9, Florida St. 3

GREENSBORO -- Miami coach Jim Morris felt good to be home and felt even better after the way his Hurricanes played Wednesday.

The Hurricanes are 1-0 in Division A play and will continue in the round-robin format by meeting Boston College (0-1) today at noon. Florida State (0-1) plays Virginia (1-0) at 4 p.m. today.

Miami (40-15 overall) slugged three home runs and used a combination of four pitchers, including three freshmen, to subdue the Seminoles (39-17).

"It's a huge win for a lot of reasons," Morris said. "Of course it's Florida State, our biggest rival, so that makes it special. The first win in the tournament is great. I thought our guys played well."

Morris was enjoying a return to Greensboro, where he lived five years and graduated from Smith High School and then from nearby Elon. He said he used to sell soft drinks during the ACC basketball tournament in Greensboro, although he did more watching than selling.

In this game, he watched the Hurricanes gain an early lead that they never relinquished. Nathan Melendres got things going in the second inning with a two-run homer off Florida State starter Sean Gilmartin. Michael Broad followed with a solo homer to make it 3-0.

Virginia 6, Boston College 4

GREENSBORO -- For all of its recent success, the Virginia baseball program is walking on new turf this week as the ACC tournament's top seed.

The nominal underdogs from Boston College turned that into a relatively arduous trek before a three-run eighth inning elevated the Cavaliers to a 6-4 victory in Wednesday's opening game.

Virginia (46-10 overall) prevailed when Jarrett Parker delivered a two-out, bases-loaded single to snap a 4-4 tie in the eighth. The uprising matched the Eagles' three-run seventh, which had given them a brief 4-3 edge, and successfully began UVa's quest to repeat its 2009 conference title.

"Winning this tournament is harder than winning an NCAA regional," said Virginia coach Brian O'Connor, whose club did both a year ago. "There are no upsets this week."