NC State Takes Care of Virginia 10-2

Friday, March 31

Raleigh, N.C.

7:00 PM

NC State

23-8, 0

Virginia

24-6, 0

Virginia

NC State

3/31/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 31, 2006

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State's bats got behind sophomore righthander Andrew Brackman to beat Virginia 10-2 on Friday night at Doak Field at Dail Park. Brackman put together a solid outing in his second start since the end of basketball season. He went six innings and threw 105 pitches, while surrendering two runs and three hits. He also logged his second career double-digit strikeout game (12 against North Carolina in 2005), fanning 10 Cavaliers while walking three on the evening.

Ramon Corona and Matt Camp led the way for the Pack at the plate. The two had three hits apiece, and Corona batted in two runs while Camp had one RBI. Designated hitter Jon Still also had a great night in the batter's box going 2-for-4 with three runs batted in.

NC State (23-8,6-4) pounded out seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to stretch out a 9-2 lead. Camp led off the inning by dropping in a single to center field. When Caleb Mangum reached on an error by the left fielder, Camp advanced to second, and eventually both moved up on a wild pitch by Virginia starter Sean Doolittle. Aaron Bates drew a walk to load the bases with none out and bring up the cleanup hitter, Ramon Corona. Corona chased Virginia starter Doolittle by slapping a single into left field scoring Camp and Mangum to give the Wolfpack its first lead of the game at 4-2.

NC State was not finished. Bates and Corona came across to score when Ryan Pond reached on an error by the shortstop, making the score 6-2 in favor of the Pack. Brian Aragon made it 7-2 with an RBI single to center scoring Pond. Aragon advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Still, and scored on Matt Mangini's RBI double to left-center. Camp rounded out the scoring on the inning bringing around Mangini from second with a single to give the Wolfpack a 9-2 lead.

Corona led off the sixth inning with a single to center field, and Corona moved up to second when Pond reached on an error for the second time in the game. A sacrifice bunt by Aragon moved Corona to third, and NC State scored its final run when Still grounded out to shortstop, pushing Corona across for the third time in the game.

Virginia jumped on the board first in the fourth inning, nabbing two runs off Brackman. Brandon Guyer started things off for the Cavaliers with an infield single with one out and made his way into scoring position by stealing second. Tom Hagan ripped a single through the right side to score Guyer and give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead. Hagan also stole second on the 2-1 pitch from Brackman and moved over to third on a single to right by Jeremy Farrell. Hagan took the plate on a balk by Brackman, making the score 2-0 Virginia.

The Pack answered Virginia with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Bates led things off with a walk and moved to second on a single by Corona. Aragon's infield single loaded the bases for Still, who smoked a single up the middle to score Bates and Corona and tie the score at 2-2.

The win moves NC State to 23-8 on the season and 6-4 in ACC play. The Wolfpack moves into a tie with Wake Forest for second place in the Atlantic Division. The loss drops Virginia to 24-6 on the campaign and 6-4 in the ACC. Brackman picked up the win for the Pack, his first on the season making him 1-2 this year. Doolittle got his first loss for the Cavaliers and fell to 5-1 on the season.

The Wolfpack returns to action at Doak Field at Dail Park on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the second of the three-game set against Virginia. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and online at gopack.com through Yahoo's subscription service.