Clemson Slams NC State, 16-9

Saturday, April 23

Doak Field

7:00 PM

NC State

29-12, 0

Clemson

25-15, 0

Clemson

NC State

4/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 23, 2005

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. - Freshman second baseman Taylor Harbin went 5-for-5, homered three times and drove in eight runs Saturday night to lead Clemson past NC State in the second game of an Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series at Doak Field. The win for the Tigers evened the series at a game apiece.

With the victory, Clemson improved to 25-15 overall and 12-5 in the ACC. NC State, which had a three-game winning streak snapped with the loss, dropped to 29-12 overall and 10-10 in the ACC.

Tigers starter Robert Rohrbaugh (5-2) got the win, pitching well after a shaky start by his defense. He allowed five runs, only two of which were earned, on five hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out six. Wolfpack starter Branden Knapp (2-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs, six of them earned, on eight hits in just 1 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out one.

Harbin was the offensive star of the night. He was a double shy of hitting for the cycle and homered on each of the last three pitches he saw. Catcher Adrian Casanova went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, and Tyler Colvin went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs. Stan Widmann had a single, a home run and two RBIs in four at-bats. Matt Camp led the NC State offense with a single, a home run and a career-high four RBIs. Jonathan Diaz went 2-for-4 and drove in a run, and Brian Aragon was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

Clemson jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Harbin hit a two-out single to left, went to second on a wild pitch, took third when the catcher's threw went into center field for an error, and scored on Colvin's single to center.

NC State came right back to take the lead in the bottom of the first, thanks to some sloppy defense by the Tigers. With two outs, Aaron Bates hit a sharp grounder to third base that Herman Demmink booted for an error, then threw away at first base for a second error that allowed Bates to go to second. Jake Muyco struck out, but was safe on a wild pitch on strike three, with Bates advancing to third. Aaron Pond singled to right to drive in Bates and send Muyco to second, and Casanova's errant pickoff throw mpoved the runners to second and third. Ramon Corona walked to load the bases, and Brian Aragon singled to left to drive in Bates and Muyco and give the Wolfpack a 3-1 lead.

That was the Pack's last lead of the night. Clemson erupted for six runs in the top of the second. Kris Harvey led off and walked. Travis Storrer singled to right to put runners on first and second. Andy D'Alessio grounded into a force play, with Storrer erased at second. That left runners on first and third with one out, and Widmann followed with an RBI single to left that made it 3-2. Casanova, up next, gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead with a three-run homer to left. Demmink singled to right and scored on Harbin's triple to deep center field. Harbin scored on Colvin's second single in as many innings to make it 7-3, Tigers.

Diaz led off the bottom of the second with a single to right, and Camp followed with his first homer of the season, the second of his career, to pull NC State back to within a pair at 7-5, but that was the last hit the Wolfpack got until a leadoff single by Diaz in the bottom of the seventh. By that time, Clemson had turned the game into a laugher.

Demmink doubled to left-center with one down in the fourth and Brad Chalk walked. A passed ball moved the runners to second and third, but Harbin made that a moot point by driving a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left field for a three-run homer and a 10-5 Clemson lead.

Casanova led off the top of the sixth and reached on an error. Chalk singled to center to put runners on first and second, and Harbin hit the next pitch for another three-run blast to left, making it 13-5.

Widmann belted a two-out homer to left in the top of the seventh, and Casanova and Demmink singled to put runners on the corners. Casanova scored on a wild pitch to make it 15-5. Harbin led off the top of the eighth with a first-pitch homer to left to make it 16-5.

NC State stirred briefly back to life in the bottom of the eighth. Pond led off the inning with a double to left, and Corona singled through the left side of the infield to put runners on first and third. Corona stole second base, and Jason St. Julien was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Diaz drove in one run with a groundout, and Camp drove in two more with a single to left, cutting the lead to eight runs at 16-8.

A two-out double to center by Corona and a pair of wild pitches gave the Wolfpack one final run to make the final score 16-9.

NC State and Clemson will play the final game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1), and the broadcast will be available live on-line on gopack.com through Yahoo's subscription service. Live in-game stats will be available on gopack.com through the Gametracker.