The Citadel Trumps NC State Baseball, 5-2

Wednesday, March 17

Raleigh, N.C.

3:00 PM

NC State

10-2

The Citadel

9-14

NC State

San Diego State

3/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 17, 2004

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Citadel sent 10 men to the plate in the first inning and five of them scored as the Bulldogs defeated 17th-ranked NC State 5-2 Wednesday at Doak Field. The Citadel, which defeated a ranked team for the second time this season, evened its record at 8-8, while the Wolfpack, which saw its four-game winning streak snapped, dropped to 14-4.

Reliever Zach Brown (2-0) picked up the victory for The Citadel. Brown allowed just one unearned run on three hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out three. Shannon Sprouse picked up his first save of the season after allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth inning. Wolfpack starter Gib Hobson (0-1), who allowed The Citadel's five first-runs, pitched four innings without allowing anything after that. His final line charged him with five runs on five hits. He wallked four and struck out two.

The Bulldogs jumped on a shaky Hobson for five runs in an ugly first inning that featured two walks, two hit batters, two infield singles, two balls hit out of the infield (one of them a harmless fly ball to center field), and little in the form of traditional baseball offense. But it was more than enough.

Matt Matulia drew a one-out walk, and Chip Cannon grounded a two-out single through the left side. Hobson then hit Chris Ard with a pitch to load the bases, walked Brown to force in a run and hit Trent Weathers to drive in another. A wild pitch let in another run to make it 3-0, and Will Coker and Matt Covington each drove in runs with infield singles to give The Citadel a 5-0 lead.

The Wolfpack got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Matt Camp led off with a single, took second on a groundout, went to third in a passed ball, and scored on David Hicks's single to right.

And that was pretty much it. The pitchers took over from there. Over the next eight innings, Wolfpack pitchers allowed no runs on three hits, walked three and struck out six. Bulldog hurlers over the next eight innings allowed just one unearned run on four hits, walked two and struck out five.

The Pack picked its final run in the bottom of the fourth when Lee Mezistrano reached second on a pair of errors by Brown, went to third on a single by Marc Maynor and scored on a groundout.

NC State threatened again in the seventh, loading the bases with one out, but second baseman Jon Aughey made a nice stop on a sharp grounder by Jason St. Julien to start a nifty double play. Sprouse allowed a leadoff triple in the ninth to Mezistrano, but strnded him there. The Bulldogs did not advance a runner past second base after their five-run first.

NC State returns to action this weekend when Duke comes to Doak Field for the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference season for both teams.