Pack Pounds Le Moyne, 8-2

Friday, May 30

Wilson, NC

7:00 PM

NC State

43-16

LeMoyne (NCAA Regional)

33-16

Le Moyne

NC State

Michael Rogers improved record to 12-3 on Friday night.

5/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 30, 2003

Final Stats

Wilson, N.C.-Michael Rogers pitched eight innings of three-hit baseball and designated hitter Dustin Knight went 3-for-4 with a homer Friday night as NC State downed Le Moyne 8-2 in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. With the win, the Wolfpack improved to 43-16 and advanced to a winner's bracket game against VCU, a 6-0 winner over Western Carolina in the first game on Friday. The Pack and Rams will meet at Wilson's Fleming Stadium at 3:00 p.m. All the action can be heard in Raleigh on WKNC 88.1 fm and via the Internet on Gopack.com. Fans in attendance can hear the broadcast on 87.7 fm.

Knight, who was making only his 17th start of the year, got NC State off to good start by clubbing a solo homer with one out in the second inning to make it 1-0. It was just Knight's second homer of the year, and it came off of Le Moyne pitching ace Brian Mattoon, who had won his previous 10 starts prior to Friday's game.

After an RBI single by Marc Maynor had given the Pack a 2-0 lead in the 4th, the Dolphins cut it to 2-1 on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Michael Affronti in the top of the 5th. But NC State responded in the bottom half of the inning when first baseman Justin Riley drove home his 45th run of the year with a single to make it 3-1.

North Carolina State's Adam Hargrave made a force out at second base in the fourth inning of the regional in Wilson on Friday evening.

NC State added solo runs in the 6th and 7th innings to move in front 5-2 before blowing it wide open with a three run 8th inning. With two down and a runner on, Joe Gaetti ripped his 14th homer of the year over the left field wall to give NC State a 7-2 edge. Later in the inning, pinch hitter David Hicks pushed across another run with his 21st double.

Meanwhile, the Wolfpack got another effective outing from Rogers, who upped his record to 12-3 by allowing just three hits and two unearned runs over eight innings of work. Rogers struck out seven and walked only one.

The Wolfpack, which improved its all-time NCAA Tournament mark to 24-33 with the win, banged out 15 base hits in upping its record to a perfect 5-0 at Fleming Stadium this season.