#20 N.C. State Blanks Tigers 10-0 in ACC Tournament Thursday

May 22, 2008

Jacksonville, FL –

Clayton Shunick pitched a two-hit shutout and the Wolfpack offense pounded out 17 hits in #20 N.C. State’s 10-0 victory over Clemson in front of 6,248 fans on Thursday night in the ACC Tournament at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The game was called after seven innings due to the 10-run rule in use during the ACC Tournament. The Wolfpack improved to 38-19 overall and 1-1 in the ACC Tournament, while the Tigers dropped to 30-27-1 overall and 0-2 in ACC Tourney play.

Shunick (6-5), a First-Team All-ACC selection, pitched 7.0 scoreless innings of two-hit ball to earn the win. He did not allow a walk and struck out eight batters in throwing 98 pitches.

Graham Stoneburner did not have the same “stuff” that enabled him to pitch a two-hit shutout (one of only two shutouts in an ACC regular-season game this year) against the same Wolfpack team in March at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Stoneburner (6-5) allowed six runs on six hits in only 0.2 innings pitched to take the loss. Justin Sarratt pitched a career-long 5.0 innings in relief as well.

The Wolfpack jumped out to a 6-0 lead on seven hits in the first inning. Matt Payne hit a one-out single to right-center and went to third on Jeremy Synan’s single to right-center. Payne scored on a passed ball, then Ryan Pond’s single through the left side put runners at the corners. Pat Ferguson followed with a potential inning-ending, double-play grounder, but shortstop Stan Widmann’s throw to first base was high, allowing Synan to score on the RBI fielder’s choice. Marcus Jones hit a single up the middle to advance Ferguson to third base, then Jones stole second. After just missing on a 2-2 pitch, Stoneburner allowed a line-drive single by Chris Schaeffer to right field to score Ferguson and Jones. Tommy Foschi then blasted a two-run homer down the left-field line, his first long ball of the season.

N.C. State added to its lead with two runs in the second inning. Synan led off with a walk and advanced to third on Pond’s single up the middle. Ferguson followed with a single to right-center to plate Synan, then Jones hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Pond. N.C. State scored more runs in the first two innings (8) than it scored in the entire three-game series at Clemson (7).

In the third inning, Foschi led off with a single to right-center and advanced to second on Drew Martin’s sacrifice bunt. Dallas Poulk then hit a single up the middle to score Foschi. The hit meant that every Wolfpack starter had a hit by the third inning.

After Shunick retired the first 13 batters in order, Doug Hogan hit a one-out single through the right side in the fifth inning. Wilson Boyd followed with a double down the right-field line to move Hogan to third. But both of them were stranded on base, as the next two Tigers were retired.

In the sixth inning, Synan led off with a double to right-center and advanced to third on Pond’s single to left field. Ferguson followed with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Synan.

Synan paced N.C. State’s 17-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored, and one walk. Schaeffer added three hits and two RBIs, while Ferguson had a game-high three RBIs.

Hogan and Boyd each had one hit apiece for the Tigers, who were held to a season-low two hits. Kyle Parker’s streak of nine straight games with an RBI also came to an end.

With the win, N.C. State snapped its nine-game losing streak to the Tigers in ACC Tournament play. The last Wolfpack win over Clemson in an ACC Tournament game was a 7-3 victory in the 1992 championship game at Greenville, SC.

Clemson, who found out prior to its game against N.C. State that it was eliminated from playing in the ACC Tournament championship game by virtue of Miami’s (FL) win over Georgia Tech earlier on Thursday, will play the Yellow Jackets on Saturday at 10:00 AM in both team’s final tournament game. Clemson will be the designated visiting team and occupy the first-base dugout.