The NC State baseball team won its first midweek game of the season 6-1 over Longwood on Tuesday afternoon at Doak Field.
The Wolfpack (4-0) got solid production from its starting pitcher, junior lefty David Harrison, who went a career-long six innings, allowing one earned run on five hits and striking out seven. The Lancers’ (1-4) pitching struggled early in the game with starter Gage Williams not even making it out of the second inning.
“I’m just locating all my pitches,” Harrison said. “Knowing their weak spots and knowing my strong spots and having a good team behind me.
Junior left fielder Terrell Tatum and the other Wolfpack baserunners caused issues for Longwood all afternoon with the pitchers committing two throwing errors on pickoff attempts. The Wolfpack also successfully stole four bases on the day.
“We ran the bases fairly well,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “Probably could have been a little more aggressive on the bases.”
Tatum was one of the Wolfpack’s main threats on the basepaths, forcing both throwing errors and stealing three bases. Tatum came around to score twice and went 1 for 2 at the plate with a solid bunt and two walks.
“I can use [my speed] against anybody in the country,” Tatum said. “I like to steal bases and if you have a slow enough time, not even a slow enough time, a time that I think that I can take the base on you, then I’m willing to risk taking that base.”
The Wolfpack started the day relentlessly, scoring in each of the first four innings and leading 6-0 before being shut out for the first time in the bottom of the fifth inning. The juniors accounted for the bulk of the offense in the Pack’s rampant start as second baseman J.T. Jarrett and right fielder Jonny Butler each accounted for one RBI while third baseman Devonte Brown drove in two, including a leadoff home run in the third inning.
“I was just looking for a fastball,” Brown said. “We knew [Longwood pitcher Trey Eggleston] didn’t have very good command of most of his pitches.”
The two RBIs that didn’t come from the juniors were sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough and senior designated hitter Lawson McArthur’s first- and second-inning RBI singles.
While he was underwhelming at the plate, going 0 for 4, another junior who was solid on the day was catcher Patrick Bailey, who picked off two baserunners in the opening three innings.
“[Bailey getting the two pick offs] was huge,” Harrison said. “Getting kind of off track a little bit with what I was doing, him just coming up behind me and making big plays. It’s Pat. Pat makes those plays.”
Longwood eventually got the better of Harrison in the sixth inning, scoring its lone run of the game on an RBI single. Sophomore righty Baker Nelson replaced Harrison to start the seventh. In his second appearance of the season, the Fuquay-Varina native worked a perfect seventh inning striking out two.
Freshman right-hander Matt Willadsen and junior righty Logan Bender closed out the game for the Pack. Willadsen struck out two and Bender struck out one as the Wolfpack closed out the game with three consecutive three-up, three-down innings.
“[Willadsen is] good,” Avent said. “He’s a good player. He’s a good baseball player. He’s a good athlete. He was very very good for the one inning today and he is going to continue to get better.”
After its strong start, the Wolfpack’s offense ground to a screeching halt, failing to get a hit in the final four innings. Luckily for the Pack, it did its damage early and rode that lead to its fourth win of the season.
“The big thing so far, Devonte, Austin Murr and Jonny Butler,” Avent said. “We know what Patrick Bailey can do, we know what Tyler McDonough can do. Those three guys hitting right now is a big plus for us but we are going to have to get some help from the bottom of the order too.”
NC State will be back in action Friday at 3 p.m. at Doak Field when it begins a three-game weekend series with Tennessee Tech. The game will be streamed live online via ACC Network Extra. Follow @TechSports on twitter for live updates.
