May 23, 2002

Box Score | Quotes | Tournament Central

St. Petersburg, Fla. - Pinch hitter Stephen Ghutzman delivered a two-out RBI double off the right field wall to propel No. 2 seed Wake Forest past No. 3 North Carolina, 9-7 in 11 innings at the 2002 ACC Baseball Championship in St. Petersburg, Fla. Thursday night.

Ghutzman, who later scored on a single by Nick Blue, connected on the first pitch he saw from North Carolina reliever Chris Maples (0-3) to break a 7-7 tie. Maples took the loss after almost becoming the hero for the Tar Heels.

With the score tied at seven in the bottom of the ninth, Maples led off with a single. Maples stole second and advanced to third when the throw by Deacon catcher Ryder Mathias went behind shortstop Ben Ingold into center field.

Wake Forest decided to load the bases and intentionally walked Jeremy Cleveland and Greg Mangum to give the Tar Heels the bases loaded with no outs.

Maples tagged on a soft liner to center field by Chad Prosser. Maples was easily beaten home by the throw of Wake Forest center fielder Adam Bourassa, so much so that Maples didn't even attempt to slide when the tag was applied. Ryan Blake popped out to second baseman Brad Scioletti to end the scoring threat and send the game into extra innings.

The two teams played a scoreless tenth before Ghutzman and the Deacs took the win in the 11th.

Wake Forest ace reliever Dave Bush (7-1) earned the win, pitching five innings and giving up two runs. After giving up the two runs in the seventh, Bush was able to keep the Tar Heels scoreless through the game's final four innings.

Wake Forest advances to face No. 1 seed Florida State at 7:30 p.m. Friday. North Carolina will meet Georgia Tech in an elimination game at 3:30 p.m.