A tough weekend for N.C. State culminated in a wild and wacky victory on Sunday. The Wolfpack beat No. 5 Miami 11-10 Sunday in eight innings of play at Doak Field.
The game was shortened due to travel scheduling issues with the visiting team. The Hurricanes were scheduled to fly from RDU Airport at 7:20 p.m., so officials decided that no inning could begin after 4:45 p.m. so the Canes would not miss their flight back to Florida.
Some controversy surrounded that decision, however.
According to coach Elliott Avent, he and Miami coach Jim Morris had decided upon a 5:00 p.m. curfew the previous day. Yet on Sunday, Morris had pushed for a 4:30 p.m. curfew instead. The umpires decided that the curfew would be set at 4:45 p.m., and the game went on. Avent said a 4:45 p.m. curfew was unnecessary.
“He said his flight was at 7:05,” Avent said. “I found out later it was at 7:20. I think it’s wrong to cheat the game. And I think it’s something the conference needs to look at because you shouldn’t have games decided like this.”
Miami jumped out to an early lead with a RBI single by leftfielder Adan Severino in the first inning and an RBI triple by centerfielder Blake Tekotte in the second.
The Wolfpack stormed back in the second with four runs on five hits, including a three-run homer by catcher Chris Schaeffer. Schaeffer, who entered the game batting .120 with zero RBI, would finish the game with four RBI.
“I really haven’t been hitting too well the past couple ball games,” Schaeffer said. “It felt really good to get the bat going today.”
Miami was forced to remove pitcher Enrique Garcia, who threw a complete game against the Wolfpack last year, after just one and one-third innings of play.
The Hurricanes battled back, adding a run in the third inning and four runs in the fourth inning. Wolfpack starter Eryk McConnell left the game having only pitched three innings and having given up seven runs, six earned. Avent said Miami started the game fired up.
“Miami came out and gave us their best shot,” Avent said. “I think they had seen the confrontation between me and Jim Morris to start the game. I think both teams were a little fired up.”
State entered the bottom of the eighth inning trailing 10-8 with just minutes to go before the 4:45 p.m. threshold. Designated hitter Nick Stanley drew a walk, and Ryan Pond singled.
Senior Matt Payne stepped to the plate with one out, two men on and the chance to win the game with one swing. However, Payne was unaware that a 4:45 p.m. curfew had been set. In fact, no one on the N.C. State bench, other than Avent and associate head coach Tom Holliday, was aware that the eighth inning would be the final inning of the game.
“I knew we were on a curfew, but I didn’t know what the curfew was,” Payne said. “We were just battling, trying to win the game.”
Avent said he did not want his team to be distracted by the clock during the game. “I tried to keep it between me and coach Holliday today,” Avent said. “I didn’t want anyone else to know. It was tough enough for me to try to manage a game looking at my watch every five minutes. There is no way a game should be played like that. Hopefully the conference will put something into effect so that doesn’t happen a lot because that was a ridiculous way to play a conference baseball game in a league this good.”
Payne would hit a three-run home run, putting N.C. State ahead 11-10. As a result of the curfew, the game was called in the eighth inning with N.C. State ahead.
Having lost 12-5 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday, the win allowed N.C. State to avoid a sweep by the Canes. The team improved the Pack to 10-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC. Miami, having taken two of three against the Pack, is now 13-2 overall and 5-1 in the ACC.
Payne said Miami was one of the best teams he has ever played, and it was important to take at least one game from the Hurricanes.
“It’s the best team we’ve played by far,” Payne said. “It’s probably the most talented team I’ve seen since I’ve been here at State. You just got to tip your hat to them. They got a good ball club.”
