Feb. 18, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - San Diego State fell behind early and although it mounted a couple of comeback attempts, could not recover as it fell to North Carolina State, 8-6, Friday afternoon at Doak Field. Despite having every starter in the lineup collect at least one hit, the Aztecs were unable to come up with clutch hits on several occasions as they left a total of 11 men on base.
The victory improved the Wolfpack to 5-1 on the season while the Aztecs saw their record fall to 2-6.
Aztec starting pitcher Bruce Billings (1-1) struggled with his control over his 3.1 innings of work. He allowed four walks and a hit batter, and each of those runners went on to score as he allowed six runs on six hits.
North Carolina State took advantage of a pair of walks and two singles to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. After the Aztecs cut the deficit to a single run with a sacrifice fly by Clayton Carson in the second, the Wolfpack responded with two more runs in their half of the third to extend their lead to 4-1.
SDSU again cut the margin to a single run as Jordan Swaydan's two-out single brought home Brock Ungricht and Lance Zawadzki, who had each singled to start the fourth inning.
The Wolfpack regained its two-run in the bottom of the same inning as a home run by first baseman Aaron Bates with teammate Bryan Kinneberg aboard made it a 6-3 ball game. Bates finished the day with three hits and a pair of runs scored as well. NC State extended its lead to 7-3 in the next inning, scoring an unearned run off Aztec reliever Ben Coon.
However, SDSU refused to fold as it rallied for a single run in the sixth and two more in the seventh on a two-out two-RBI sin by Carson to make it a 7-6 contest. But that was as close as the Aztecs would come as the Wolfpack added a run in the seventh, then called on relief ace Joey Devine to close out the contest and record his third save.
In addition to Carson and Swaydan, third baseman Lance Zawadzki also had two hits for San Diego State. Carson (3) and Swaydan (2) accounted for five of the team's six RBI.
The Aztecs and Wolfpack continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday (Feb. 19) with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (EST) at Doak field in Raleigh.
North Carolina State 8, San Diego State 6SDSU 010 202 200 - 6 12 1NCSU 202 210 10x - 8 10 2Billings, Coon (4), Campbell (6), Bruckart (7), Burkle (8) and SwaydanDavidson, Walls (4), Duncan (7), McLaurin (7), J. Devine (8) and MuycoW - Walls (1-0)L - Billings (1-1)Sv - J Devine (3)HR - NSCU: Bates (1)Time - 3:23Att. - 326