NC State Baseball Pounds Davidson, 11-2

Wednesday, March 31

Raleigh, N.C.

7:00 PM

NC State

19-8

Davidson

9-15

Davidson

NC State

3/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 31, 2004

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. - Ryan Johnson and Caleb Mangum drove in three runs apiece, and five NC State pitchers combined on a three-hitter Wednesday as the Wolfpack roughed up Davidson 11-2 at Doak Field. The win, NC State's fourth in a row, lifted the Wolfpack to 19-8 heading into this weekend's Atlantic Coast Conference showdown at Florida State. Davidson dropped to 9-16 with the loss.

Because the game was a prearranged pitching split with at least three pitchers slated for aciton, starter Gib Hobson (1-1) was not required to pitch five innings in order to qualify for the win. He allowed one run on three hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five. Adam McLaurin, Phillip Davidson, Nate Cretarolo and Joey Devine also took the mound for the Wolfpack. Davidson starter Rob Wilson (3-3) got the loss for the Wildcats after allowing six runs, all earned, on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five.

The Wolfpack jumped to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Bryan Kinneberg got things started with a one-out walk and scored all the way from first on a double down the right-field line by David Hicks. Jason St. Julien singled to right to drive in Hicks with the second run. Lee Mezistrano singled to left, and St. Julien wound up on third base when left fielder Brett Peiffer fumbled the ball for an error. Mezistrano stole second, and both runners scored on Johnson's line drive up the middle.

The Wildcats manufactured a run in the top of the third. Jay Heafner led off with a walk, stole second, went to third on a groundout to first base by Michael Muniz, and scored on a grounder to shortstop by Gregory Zage.

Eric Taylor led off the bottom of the fourth for the Wolfpack and was hit by a pitch. Taylor stole second and Johnson walked to put runners on first and second. With one down, Bill Riggs came in for the Wildcats, and Jonathan Diaz hit his first pitch of the night through the right side of the infield for an RBI single. Johnson went to third on the play, and scored from there on Matt Camp's groundout to first base, giving the Wolfpack a 6-1 lead.

The Pack blew the game open with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Hicks led off and singled off the shortstop's glove, and St. Julien singled up the middle to put runners on first and second with none out. Riggs struck out Mezistrano for the first out, but Taylor moved the runners to second and third with a grounder to shortstop. Johnson tried to bunt in a run, and catcher Dan Obermeier fumbled the ball for an error to allow one run to score, and Mangum then stroked a two-run double to right-center to drive in St. Julien and Johnson and give NC State a 9-1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Mezistrano was hit in the right knee with a pitch and had to leave the game. Tim Holt pinch-ran and went all the way to third when first baseman Alden Crissey misplayed Taylor's grounder for an error. Taylor went to second on the error. Holt scored and Taylor took third on a wild pitch, and Mangum's single to center drove in Taylor to give the Wolfpack an 11-1 lead.

Davidson got a run in the top of the eighth. Muniz walked with one out and stole second. Zage was hit in the nose by a pitch, and Doug Rose pinch-ran. Sam Navarro grounded into a force play at second base, and Muniz scored all the way from second when Holt's relay throw to first was wide of the bag, trimming the lead to 11-2.

The Wolfpack will play a three-game conference series at Florida State this weekend. Game times are set for 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1), and live in-game stats will be available on gopack.com via the Gametracker.