Orvella's Homer Lifts NC State Past UNC 7-6 In 11

Saturday, May 24

Salem, Va.

5:00 PM

NC State

42-14

North Carolina (ACC Tournament)

39-20

NC State

North Carolina

Orvella's Homer Lifts NC State Past UNC 7-6 In 11

5/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 24, 2003

Final Stats

SALEM, N.C. - In the biggest game of the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament, 12th-ranked NC State came up big. In a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in the tournament, Chad Orvella led off the top of the 11th inning with a dramatic game-winning home run and freshman righthander Joey Devine was dominant in late relief Saturday afternoon as the Wolfpack came from behind to pin a dramatic 7-6 defeat on arch-rival North Carolina. The victory made NC State (42-14) the last unbeaten team in the tournament and guaranteed the Wolfpack a spot in the tournament's championship game. North Carolina (39-20) was sent to an elimination game Sunday morning at 9:30 against Georgia Tech.

The game was more than three hours of championship drama and shifting momentum. The Wolfpack took the early lead, fell behind by three runs, rallied to take the lead before UNC tied the score to send the game into extra innings for Orvella to win. Wolfpack starter Vern Sterry was roughed up for five runs in 4-2.3 innings, but his 11-game winning streak remained alive when NC State got him off the hook with a four-run sixth inning.

And then there was Devine (5-2), who shut down the Tar Heels for 4-2/3 innings, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out seven. Devine pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth, and survived a leadoff double in the ninth. He settled in after that and retired the final nine North Carolina hitters of the game, five of them on strikes. Whitley Benson (3-3) took the loss for UNC after allowing two hits, one of them Orvella's blast in the 11th, in two innings of relief. He walked one and struck out two.

The Wolfpack scratched first when Joe Gaetti led off the top of the second with a double off the wall in left-center and scored on Orvella's single to center field. The Tar Heels countered in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Blake and Wes Moyer were hit by pitches by Sterry, and Greg Mangum and Chad Prosser delivered RBI singles to give the Tar Heels a 2-1 lead.

Justin Riley led off the top of the fourth with his 16th home run of the season, just inside the foul pole in left, to tie the game at 2-2. The Tar Heels went back in front in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff triple by Moyer and a clutch two-out single to center field by Chad Prosser, who fouled off six pitches prior to ripping a line drive up the middle.

Sean Farrell led off the bottom of the fifth with a single for the Tar Heels and stole second base. Farrell's steal not only kept North Carolina out of the inning-ending double play when Blake grounded out to shortstop, but led to a pair of runs when Chris Ianetta doubled in a run and Moyer delivered an RBI single to left. When Blair Waggett reached on a throwing error by Jeremy Dutton, Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent lifted Sterry in favor of reliever Phillip Davidson, who promptly picked Waggett off first base. Moyer was tagged out at home, caught stealing, in the ensuing rundown to end the inning.

The wheels came off the wagon for North Carolina starter Garry Bakker in the top of the sixth. Matt Camp led off with a single to left and Dutton walked. Riley singled to left to drive in Camp, and Colt Morton singled to center to drive in Dutton, cutting the UNC lead to a run at 5-4. Joe Gaetti hit an infield single to load the bases, and Tar Heels coach Mike Fox switched pitchers, bringing in lefthander Scott Senatore to face the lefthanded hitting David Hicks.

Hicks spoiled the strategy by slapping an RBI single to left to tie the score at 5-5. After Orvella grounded into a force play at the plate, Maynor was hit by a pitch to force in the go-ahead run and give the Wolfpack a 6-5 lead.

Farrell led off the bottom of the seventh and walked. After Sammy Hewitt flied out and Ryan Blake grounded out, Ianetta blooped a single to shallow center field to drive in Farrell and tie the score at 6-6.

The Tar Heels loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth on three singles, two of which did not leave the infield, but Devine struck out Sammy Hewitt and got Blake to fly to right to get out of the jam. Ianetta led off the bottom of the ninth with a double into the gap in right-center, but Devine struck out Moyer and pinch-hitter Chase Younts, and got Mangum to ground to shortstop to end the threat.

Orvella's home run, his second extra-inning game-winner of the season and his fifth overall, gave the Wolfpack the lead at 7-6, and Devine cruised through the bottom of the inning by striking out Sammy Hewitt and Blake, and retiring Ianetta on a pop-up to end the game.