NC State Takes Series Finale At Duke, 11-4

Sunday, May 15

Durham, N.C.

1:30 PM

NC State

36-14, 0

Duke

14-35, 0

NC State

Duke

5/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 15, 2005

Final Stats

DURHAM, N.C. - Andrew Brackman worked five scoreless innings and Aaton Bates concluded a huge series with a single, a home run and three RBIs on Sunday as NC State defeated Duke 11-4 in the final game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Jack Coombs Field. The Wolfpack won the series from the Blue Devils, two games to one.

NC State improved to 36-14 with the victory, 15-12 in the ACC. Duke fell to 14-35 overall and 5-22 in the conference. Brackman (3-0) allowed three hits, walked two and struck out five. In his four starts, he has allowed three runs on 11 hits in 23 innings, an ERA of 1.17. Overall, his ERA dropped to 1.20 with the win vs. Blue Devils. Duke starter David Torcise (2-7) took the loss after allowing eight runs, six earned, on seven hits in four innings.

Bates led the Wolfpack with his two hits and three RBIs, and for the series he was 9-for-13 with two home runs and nine RBIs. Ramon Corona went 2-for-3, Matt Devine went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Ryan Pond was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

The game was scoreless for the first two innings before the Wolfpack put a four-spot on the board in the top of the third. Devine led off with a double to right field and went to third on Jonathan Diaz's sacrifice bunt. Matt Camp singled to left to drive in Devine with the game's first run, and Corona walked, setting the tables for Bates, who hit the first pitch he saw well into the trees behind the left-field fence to give NC State a 4-0 lead.

Brian Aragon led off the top of the fourth with a double off the wall in right field, and Devine moved him to third with a groundout. Diaz made it 5-0 with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Corona led off the top of the fifth with a single to center, and Bates followed with a single up the middle to put runners on first and second with none out. Pond singled to left-center to drive in Corona and make it 6-0, and Lee Mezistrano walked to load the bases and chase Torcise, who gave way to reliever Jim Perry. Perry got out of the inning, but not without further damage. After recording the first out, Perry got Aragon to hit a sharp grounder to third base that Kyle Kreick booted for a run-scoring error. Devine followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-0.

Brackman left after five, and Duke promptly cut the lead in half, thanks in large measure to some sloppy defensive work by the Wolfpack. Adam Murray led off the sixth and hit a one-hopper back to reliever Adam McLaurin, who came in for Brackman. McLaurin speared the ball on the third-base side of the mound, then threw it over the head of Jake Muyco, who moved over from catcher to play first base for Aaron Bates to start the inning. Brett Bartles popped up for the first out, and Javier Socorro hit a grounder up the middle, a perfect double-play ball that kicked off Diaz's glove for an error. Corey Whiting then hit a comebacker to McLaurin, who threw the ball over Diaz's head at second for the third error of the inning, the second by McLaurin on a throw to a base. Murray scored on the play and Socorro wound up at third. Bryan Smith made it 8-3 with a triple to right-center, then scored on Jimmy Gallagher's sacrifice fly to make it 8-4.

The Pack got three of those four runs back in the top of the ninth. Pond led off with a double to right-center. Jonathan Anderson came in to pitch for Perry and Mezistrano beat out a grounder to shortstop for a single. Muyco hit a line drive off the glove of Gallagher at first base. Muyco was out on the play, but Mezistrano went to second, with Pond holding at third. Aragon walked to load the bases, and Tony Bajoczky came in to pitch for the Blue Devils. Devine hit his first pitch to left for a two-run double, although Aragon was thrown out at home plate trying to score on the play. Devine went to third on the throw to the plate, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 11-4.

NC State will return to action on Tuesday vs. Campbell at Doak Field. Game time is 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on gopack.com through Yahoo's subscription service. Live in-game stats will be available on gopack.com on the Gametracker.