Wolfpack Bring Out Bats in Columbia Regional Elimination Game

North Carolina State stays alive with its best hitting performance in seven games

June 3, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. - NC State sophomore reliever Joey Cutler prides himself on throwing strikes, no matter what the situation.

So he wasn't overly concerned when he was asked to come in Sunday afternoon in the seventh inning of the Wolfpack's second-round NCAA regional contest against Wofford, with the bases loaded, one out and the tying run at the plate.

"It's a tough situation to come in on, but I just tried to take a deep breath, come in and concentrate on throwing strikes," said the sophomore from Matthews, N.C. " It's always big to get a first pitch strike in that situation and roll with the punches from there.

"It's one of those things, where if I don't throw well it's because I am not throwing strikes."

Cutler threw three straight strikes to Wofford outfielder John Brandt, then struck out first baseman Adam Wood on five pitches to end the inning and squelch the Terriers' late-game rally. He struck out three more batters over the next two innings to earn his third save of the season, as State eliminated Wofford 10-6 at South Carolina's Sarge Frye Field.

After sitting at the hotel most of Saturday - when inclement weather wiped out all scheduled games in the four-team regional - the Wolfpack players turned aggressive at the plate, pounding out 13 hits and scoring double-figure runs for the first time in seven games. It was a far different offense than the one that scored one earned run in Friday's 6-3 loss to Charlotte.

The second-seeded Wolfpack (38-22) will play a second game Sunday night, when it will face the loser of Sunday's middle game between top-seeded South Carolina and third-seeded Charlotte. The game will start at approximately 8 p.m.

Junior shortstop Ramon Corona collected three hits, an RBI double and two singles, while junior designated hitter Mike Roskopf increased his team-leading home run total to 12 with a two-run shot in the fourth inning.

Coach Elliott Avent's team exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth inning, to take a 9-1 lead, an inning that was headlined by a two-run homer to center field by sophomore left fielder Jeremy Synan, his fifth of the season.

"They had been coming inside on me all day long, so on my third at-bat, I backed off the plate a little bit and saw it up and drove it," Synan said. "Having runs makes you feel a little better about yourself."

But no lead was safe against a team that leads the nation with 108 home runs this season and the wind blowing out at South Carolina's soggy Sarge Frye Field.

In the bottom of the sixth, Wofford scored four quick runs off Wolfpack starter Clayton Shunick (6-3), who gave his team five solid innings of three-hit pitching until finding trouble in the bottom of the sixth.

"I hadn't really thrown that many pitches," said Shunick, a sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga.. "I was just trying to go out there and last as long as I could, trying to save some of our pitchers for the games we have ahead. I was just trying to keep the ball down as best I could and let them beat it into the ground a little. The wind has no factor then, nor was the small ballpark."

Shunick did a fine job in shutting down Wofford third baseman Brandon Waring, who was tied for the NCAA lead with 27 home runs. Shunick struck Waring out three times in the game's first six innings.

But sophomore reliever Kyle Rutter took over for Shunick in the seventh, and struggled for the second game in a row to get anyone out. Rutter, who walked the only batter he faced on five pitches in Friday's first-round loss to Charlotte, gave up three singles and a walk to allow one Wofford run in his one-third of an inning. He gave up a hard-hit run-scoring single to Waring before leaving in favor of Cutler.

Cutler did a masterful job of pitching out of the jam, striking out John Brandt, who had hit a two-run homer off Shunick in the sixth, and Adam Wood to end the inning. Cutler allowed two baserunners in the top of the eighth, but struck out Bradford Eaves to end the Terrier threat. Cutler then pitched a scoreless ninth to record his third save of the season.

The Wolfpack, which lost to Charlotte 6-3 in Friday's first-round game, will face the loser of the Charlotte-South Carolina about 50 minutes following that contest. The game can be heard on WKNC 88.1-FM and on GoPack.com.