North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
29-10, 0
Maryland
16-22, 0
NC State Pounds Maryland 15-4
4/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 15, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - For the second night in a row, Matt Camp, Ramon Corona and Aaron Bates combined for nine hits Saturday to lead NC State to a 15-4 rout of Maryland in the second game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series at Maryland's Shipley Field.
The Wolfpack, which won its third ACC game in a row with the win, improved to 29-10 overall and 12-5 in the ACC. Maryland fell to 16-22 and 6-14. Gib Hobson (5-1) picked up the win in relief of starter Eric Surkamp, who was lifted after four innings. Hobson worked three scoreless innings, allowing one hit, walking one and striking out three. Maryland starter Ben Pfinsgraff (2-4) took the loss. He was tagged with nine runs on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out one without issuing a walk.
Camp (5-for-10), Corona (7-for-11) and Bates (6-for-10) are a combined 18-for-31 with four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 14 RBIs and 13 runs scored in the first two games of the series. NC State is hitting .409 as a team in the series thus far with a .470 on-base percentage and a .739 slugging percentage.
In its last three ACC games, NC State, ranked No. 12 nationally, has outscored the opposition 43-10 and batted .417 as a team. Corona is hitting .706 (12-for-17) with three doubles, one triple, one home run and 11 RBIs in those three games. Camp is hitting .600 (9-for-15) in the three wins, which also includes a 17-2 win last Sunday over Wake Forest.
The Wolfpack scored a run off Pfinsgraff in the top of the second. Matt Mangini and Aaron Cone led off the inning with singles, and Bobby Hubbard's dribbler in front of the plate advanced the runners to second and third. Caleb Mangum hit a one-hop rocket back at Pfinsgraff, who managed to knock the ball down and retire Mangum at first, but Mangini scored on the play to give the Wolfpack a 1-0 lead.
Corona drove a one-out hit to right field in the top of the third and hustled it into a double when right fielder Matt Maropis was slow coming up with the ball. Bates followed with a single through the right side of the infield to drive in Corona and give the Pack a 2-0 lead.
The Terrapins erupted for four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Dan Melvin led off with a long leadoff home run to center field to get one run on the board. Gerry Spessard walked but was picked off first by Mangum on strike three to Jordan Wilson, a double play that appeared to take the steam out of the inning for Maryland. But Jason Von Behren and Mike Murphy walked, and Dan Mellies sliced an opposite-field double to right-center, just off the glove of a diving Camp. Von Behren and Murphy scored on the play to give the Terps their first lead of the series at 3-2. Mellies went to third on a wild pitch and came around to score when Mangum's throw to third was wide of the bag and down the left-field line for a run-scoring error, giving Maryland a 4-2 lead.
NC State responded to Maryland's four-run inning with a torrid display of offense, beginning with four runs in the top of the fifth. Jonathan Diaz led off the top of the fifth with a single through the right side of the infield and took second on a passed ball. After Camp was out attempting to sacrifice, Corona drove Diaz in with his third hit of the game, a line-drive single down the left-field line. Corona went to second on the throw to the plate. Pfinsgraff hit Bates with a pitch, and Brian Aragon followed with a towering three-run homer to center field, putting the Wolfpack back in front, 6-4.
With one down in the top of the sixth, Pfinsgraff hit Mangum with a pitch. Diaz singled through the vacated right side of the infield on a hit-and-run play, putting runners on first and second. Camp singled through the left side to drive in Mangum and send Diaz to third. Camp went to second on the throw to the plate. Seth Overbey came in to pitch for the Terps at that point, and Corona greeted him with a little flare down the right-field line that new right fielder Wink Nolan dived for and missed, allowing the ball to roll all the way to the fence for a two-run triple. Bates hit a dribbler to the left of the mound that Overbey bobbled for an error allowing Bates to reach first and Corona to score, then threw the ball past first base for a second error that allowed Bates to reach second. Bates got greedy, however, and was cut down trying for third base on the play. Corona's run gave NC State a 10-4 lead.
The Wolfpack continued to onslaught with three in the top of the seventh. Jon Still pinch-hit for Cone and singled up the middle and Marcus Jones drove a pinch-hit double to the wall in right-center to put runners on second and third. Mangum drove in Still with a sacrifice fly, and Diaz walked. Diaz and Jones advanced to second and third on a passed ball, and scored on Camp's single up the middle, making it 13-4.
Bates led off the top of the eighth with a one-hop double off the wall in left-center and went to third on Aragon's fly ball to center field. Mangini drove in Bates with a line-drive double off the wall in left-center. Pinch-runner Drew Martin moved to third base on Still's groundout to first and scored when pitcher Brett Tidball threw away Jones's dribbler to the mound for an error, making the Wolfpack lead 11 runs at 15-4.
NC State and Maryland 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 on-line at gopack.com through Yahoo's subscription service.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hobson, Gib (5-1)
L: Ben Pfinsgraff (2-4)
Batting:
2B: Corona , Ramon 2 ; Bates, Aaron 1 ; Mangini, Matt 1 ; Jones , Marcus 1
3B: Corona , Ramon 1
HR: Aragon, Brian 1
RBI: Camp, Matt 3 ; Corona , Ramon 3 ; Bates, Aaron 1 ; Aragon, Brian 3 ; Mangini, Matt 1 ; Mangum, Caleb 2
SF: Mangum, Caleb 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Camp, Matt 1 ; Corona , Ramon 3 ; Bates, Aaron 2 ; Aragon, Brian 1 ; Mangini, Matt 1 ; Martin, Drew 1 ; Still, Jon 1 ; Jones , Marcus 1 ; Mangum, Caleb 1 ; Diaz, Jonathan 3
HBP: Bates, Aaron 1 ; Mangum, Caleb 1
Batting:
2B: Dan Melvin 1 ; Dan Mellies 1
HR: Dan Melvin 1
RBI: Dan Melvin 1 ; Dan Mellies 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Dan Melvin 1 ; Jason Von Behren 1 ; Mike Murphy 1 ; Dan Mellies 1
SB: Steve Braun 1
PO: Gerry Spessard 1
