March 16, 2010

Final Stats

DURHAM, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com)- Through three innings on Tuesday afternoon at the Durham Athletic Park, North Carolina Central University challenged NC State University leading 4-3, but the Eagles could not keep up as the Wolfpack bats scored in all nine innings to pull away for the 24-6 win.

NC State took the early lead at 1-0 following a throwing error by catcher David Scott (Bunn, N.C.), but the Eagles answered right back in the bottom of the frame when freshman Nate Smith hit his first career round tripper over the short porch in right field to knot the ballgame up at 1-1.

The Wolfpack added a run in the second and the third to take a 3-1 into the bottom of the third and that's when the Eagle offense exploded to take the lead. It all began when Akeem Hood (Raleigh, N.C.) and Kurt Wilson (Riverdale, Ga.) hit back-to-back singles. NCCU got its third consecutive hit of inning when Smith singled to center field driving in his second RBI of the day cutting the Eagle deficit to 3-2. Blake Murray's (Wendell, N.C.) RBI ground out tied the ballgame up at 3-3. NCCU grabbed the lead at 4-3 when Anthony Wilson (Fort Washington, Md.) reached first on a throwing error by Wolfpack shortstop Chris Diaz scoring Smith from third base.

NC State tied the contest back up at 4-4 in the top of the fourth inning when Tarran Senay hit one of two home runs of the day to right field.

The Wolfpack scored four more runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth. With the score standing at 11-4 the Eagles mounted another rally following a Justin Goodson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) single. Ross Plummer (Winston-Salem, N.C.) hit his first double of the season driving in Goodson from second base to cut the deficit to 11-5. NCCU added another run to put the score at 11-6.

From that point forward, NC State took full control of the contest with its bats scoring the final 13 runs of the ballgame to win the contest 24-6.

Jeff Citero (0-2) took the loss for the Eagles, but the junior hurler battled hard allowing just six earned runs and struck out three Wolfpack batters keeping the Eagles in the ballgame throughout his performance.

Numerous student-athletes for NCCU had multi-hit days at the play with both Plummer (3-for-4 1 run scored, 1 RBI) and Goodson (3-for-5, 1 run scored) both had three hits while Kurt Wilson and Smith had two hits on the day.

NCCU (0-15) looks to take the positive from this loss and use it this weekend when the Eagles travel to Baltimore, Md. to take on Coppin State University with a single game on Friday, March 19 at 3:00 p.m. and a twinbill set for a noon first pitch on Saturday, March 20.

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