ACC: Key replacement in 9th saves NC State
By Eric Sorenson - May 27, 2006
N.C. State grinds out an 8-7 win, but the last two outs were adventurous. 1B Aaron Bates is 6'5" and needed every inch to make a catch on a near-errant groundout throw for the second out of the 9th.
Then, 3B replacement Drew Martin made a remarkable diving stab at a line drive to end the game. Coach Elliot Avent said, "I put Martin in there because Mark Mangini has had some bumps and bruises and needed IV's earlier this week, so Martin was a little more nimble."
The Wolf Pack kept hitting and hitting and hammeredtheir way to the championship round. Lead off man Matt Camp went 3-for-5 and scored three of the Pack's runs and No. 2 hitter Ramon Carona went 4-for-4 with two Ribs.
In the post-game, Mike Martin said about that weird near-infield fly ruled ball by NCSU's Ramon Carona, "It was a good call. The ball did not go high enough for a reasonable play to be made."
As far as hosting possibilities in the NCAA tournament, Martin said, "I don't want to say 'coz I'm not going to speak for the committee. There will be a lot of excitement when the sites are announced tomorrow and we hope to be one of them. I think our RPI is going to be a positive. I just hope the folks that make these decisions agree with me in seeing what I see."
Coach Avent, ever entertaining, said about hosting, "Getting to the championship game of the ACC tournament? Yes, we should host."
Now, we move on to the 10:15 start time of the second Clemson-Georgia Tech game tonight. Whew! Glad I'm still sleeping on west coast time on this trip.
Posted by Eric Sorenson at 09:09 PM on May 27, 2006
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