NC State's Gib Hobson No-Hits Maryland, 11-1

Saturday, March 12

Doak Field

2:00 PM

NC State

14-5, 0

Maryland

9-5, 0

Maryland

NC State

3/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 12, 2005

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. - Sophomore righthander Gib Hobson pitched the first no-hitter by an NC State pitcher in 12 years Saturday, and freshman second baseman Ramon Corona had a career day at the plate with a home run and five RBIs to lead the Wolfpack to an 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Maryland at Doak Field.

The victory evened the three-game ACC series at one game apiece. The Wolfpack improved to 14-5 overall and 2-3 in the ACC. Maryland dropped to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

Hobson (4-1), who retired the first 12 men he faced and 17 of the first 18, walked four and struck out 11, a career high for Hobson and a season high for any NC State pitcher this year. The Terrapins' one run was unearned, the result of a walk and an error. The no-hitter was the first by a Wolfpack pitcher since Terry Harvey no-hit Florida State on March 26, 1993.

Maryland starter Ben Pfinsgraff (3-1) pitched well enough to win most games, but not this one. Pfinsgraff worked six innings and allowed four runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Corona went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and a career-high five RBIs, which is a team-high for any NC State hitter this season. Aaron Cone went 1-for-2 and drove in two runs, and Mike Jensen, Matt Devine and Matt Camp had two hits each for the Wolfpack.

Both pitchers retired the side in order in the first two innings, but Devine led off the bottom of the third with an opposite-field triple into the gap in right-center, and Corona followed with his first collegiate home run to give the Wolfpack a 2-0 lead.

Jake Muyco extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a one-out bunt single in the bottom of the fourth, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on Jensen's RBI-single to left to make it 3-0. Jensen hit a one-out double to right field in the bottom of the sixth and came around to score on Corona's two-out double down the left-field line, giving NC State a 4-0 lead through six innings.

The Wolfpack took all the remaining suspense out of the final outcome with five runs in the bottom of the seventh. Camp led off and singled up the middle. Brian Aragon singled to right, with Camp taking third on the play. Ryan Johnson pinch-ran for Aragon, and both runners advanced on a passed ball, Camp scoring and Johnson taking second. With one out, Chris Engle reached on an infield single to the shortstop, with Johnson holding at second. The runners moved up to second and third on an errant pickoff throw, and scored on Cone's pinch-double to left to make it 7-0. Devine was hit by a pitch, and he and Cone moved up to second and third on a passed ball. Corona's single to left drove in both runners and gave Hobson and the Wolfpack a 9-0 lead.

Maryland broke up the shutout but not the no-hitter with a run in the top of the eighth. Matt Maropis led off and walked. Pinch-hitter Chad Durakis hit a potential double-play gronder to third base, but Devine bobbled the ball for an error and was unable to make a play. Maropis took third on the play amd scored on Joe Palumbo's grounder to first base.

The Wolfpack got two more in the bottom of the eighth. Camp led off and doubled, and Johnson singled to left to put runners on first and third with none out. Pinch-hitter Matt Mangini singled to right to drive in Camp with NC State's 10th run of the game, and Engle grounded into a double play to score Johnson and make it 11-1.