With a little help from the baseball gods, the No. 13 NC State baseball team was able to tie up Georgia Tech after an improbable play, and eventually won with a two-run home run in extra innings at the ACC Championship in Durham.
In the top of the ninth, with two outs and the Wolfpack (35-20) clinging on to any hope of a comeback, sophomore pinch hitter Shane Shepard hit a routine fly ball to center that was dropped by Yellow Jacket (36-23) junior center fielder Ryan Peurifoy, keeping the game alive, and bringing up sophomore second baseman Stephen Pitarra, who singled through the middle to score two runs and tie the game at 5-5.
“Obviously, it was kind of a fluke play,” Wolfpack junior catcher Andrew Knizner said. “I don’t think there was a doubt in anyone’s mind in the dugout that he might drop the ball. It was kind of a lucky play. But, that’s a part of the game and a part of postseason baseball. You need a little luck on your side. It was nice to get the ball to bounce our way; it hasn’t bounced our way in a while.”
In the top of the 12th inning, sophomore outfielder Brock Deatherage broke the tie, putting the Wolfpack ahead for good with a one-out, two-run blast over the “Blue Monster” in left field, making it 7-5.
“It was really a feeling that I’ve felt before,” Deatherage said. “But at first, I really didn’t know it actually happened. Right off the bat, I springed out of the box; I knew the wall was big so I was thinking maybe I hit a double off the wall. I got to first base and Coach Black, our first base coach, was hooping and hollering. After that, I knew it went over.”
NC State got off to a promising start, scoring three runs in the second inning to go up 3-0. After Knizner singled through the right side, freshman outfielder Brett Kinneman’s homer hit the bull sign (unfortunately for him, he hit the grass on the sign, so he wins salad, not steak) over the left field wall. Senior designated hitter Chance Shepard immediately followed that with a solo home run bomb of his own — his second homer in as many games.
The Wolfpack looked to be in complete control until the Yellow Jackets opened the floodgates in the fourth inning against NC State starting pitcher Brian Brown (4.10 ERA, 7-3), scoring five runs to go up by two runs.
The Yellow Jackets scored runs on two separate wild pitches by Brown, a single down the right field line and a triple to right-center field.
The Pack struggled to get much going offensively in the latter innings until Peurifoy’s dropped ball in the ninth to give NC State a glimpse of life, which proved to be all it needed.
If there’s one thing you can count on from this team, other than nail-biting action, it’s that they will never give up — just how former legendary men’s basketball coach Jim Valvano taught us all.
“I’m just really proud of our guys,” NC State head coach Elliott Avent said. “The way Gorst (GT reliever) was pitching tonight, it almost makes you want to quit. He was so good. Our guys just refused to quit; they got lucky…If you don’t quit, sometimes you get lucky.”
The Wolfpack will now have to wait and see if they will in fact host a NCAA Regional in Raleigh or have to travel out of town to play.
Junior center Andrew Knizner greets Freshman outfielder Brett Kinneman at the plate during third round of play at the ACC Baseball Tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on May 27. Kinneman had one RBI. The Wolfpack beat Georgia Tech 7-5 in extra innings.
