NC State Wolfpack

June 5, 2005

Final Stats

LINCOLN, Neb. - Creighton catcher Tony Daniel hit two home runs, including a decisive grand slam in the seventh inning, to lift the Bluejays past NC State 11-9 in an elimination game Sunday at the NCAA Lincoln Regional.

The loss eliminated the Wolfpack from the tournament and ended the Pack's season with a 41-19 record. Third-seeded Creighton, which improved to 48-16 with the victory, moves on to the championship round and was set to face top-seeded Nebraska at 7 p.m. EDT. Nebraska is the unbeaten team and needs just one more win to take the regional championship and advance to the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend. Creighton needed to defeat the Cornhuskers on Sunday and again on Monday in order to win the regional crown.

Senior righthander Phillip Davidson (6-5), the second of four NC State pitchers, took the loss after being charged with five runs on five hits in two innings. Davidson, who walked one without a strikeout, was pitching for the second day in a row. Creighton reliever Scott Reese (12-0) got the win despite allowing four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out three. Brandon Bird allowed just one unearned run on one hit in two innings to record his 11th save of the season.

"I thought we played very well today, came prepared to play, and played hard from start to finish," Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent said. "Things went our way early. We strung some hits together and got into their bullpen in the third inning. You have to give Creighton a lot of credit. We had the pitchers we wanted out there with Phil Davidson and Jason Duncan, but they were pitching on short rest and weren't able to get ahead in the count and make the pitches they wanted."

Matt Camp concluded a strong tournament performance with three hits and an RBI, and Aaron Bates went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Bates finished the season with a .425 batting average, the second highest single-season average in school history. Matt Devine hit a pair od doubles and drove in a run in five at-bats, and Jake Muyco went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Daniel had the two homers and five RBIs for the Bluejays, and Barad Dutton (3-for-5), Tony Roth (2-for-4) and Chris Gladoville (2-for-5 with 3 RBIs) also had multiple-hit games for Creighton.

NC State got that run back in the top of the second. Brian Aragon led off with a single up the middle, stole second, went to third when the throw to second sailed past the bag and into center field, and scored Bryan Kinneberg's single to center.

The Pack jumped on Bluejays starter Tony Bilek for three in the top of the third. Devine led off with a double to center field. Camp followed with a two-bagger to right, but Devine was only able to advance to third after making sure the ball was not caught. Jonathan Diaz drove in both runners with a first-pitch triple to right-center and scored on Bates' single to left, the Wolfpack's fourth consecutive hit.

It only took a few pitches into the bottom of the fourth for Creighton to catch up. Zach Daeges led off with a single to center, and Gradoville and Daniel hit back-to-back home runs to left, knotting the score at 4-4.

Ramon Corona singled to right with one down in the top of the fifth and Jason St. Julien, pinch-hitting for Kinneberg, walked. The Pack put the runners in motion on the first pitch to Muyco, who drove it to left-center for a two-run double, giving the Wolfpack the lead back at 6-4.

Roth led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to right off of Davidson and Dutton singled to left to put runners on first and second with none out. Norquist laid down a bunt, and Davidson pounced on it to force Roth at third base for the first out of the inning. Devine's throw to first to try and complete the double play sailed past Bates for an error that allowed Dutton to advance to third. Norquist wound up on second on a wild pitch, and a groundout by Daeges and a single to center by Gradoville got both runners home to tie the score again at 6-6.

Corona led off the top of the seventh with a walk and went to second on a sacrifice by St. Julien. With two down, Devine's fly ball to right-center fell in for an RBI-double. Devine came around to score when Camp's blooper to shallow right fell in for a single, giving NC State an 8-6 lead.

Roth and Dutton led off the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back doubles to cut the lead to a run at 7-6, and Norquist walked, marking the end of the day for Davidson, who gave way to Duncan. Daeges tried to bunt the runners to second and third and popped the ball up. Duncan picked it up on the short hop, but before he could make a throw he dropped the ball for an error and all hands were safe. Duncan struck out Gradoville for the first out, but Daniel followed with a homer to give the Bluejays an 11-8 lead.

NC State added an unearned run in the top of the ninth. Corona led off and flied to left field, but Jim Hinrichs, inserted into the game at the start of the inning for defensive purposes, dropped the ball for a two-base error. With one down, pinch-hitter Ryan Pond singled to right-center to drive in Corona with the final run of the season.

"Our kids fought hard and battled and never quit, which is why we won 41 games this season," Avent said. It just didn't happen for us today."