On a gorgeous, sun-splashed afternoon at Dail Stadium, the Wolfpack, 15-12, capitalized on a handful of Greensboro errors with timely hitting to take down the Spartans, 11-14, in consecutive games. The first contest was an 8-5 win that featured four runs from State to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, while the evening match was a 9-0 shutout called after five innings.
Kayla Cox, a freshman from Riverview, Fla., was one of the stars of the day for N.C. State. Her four inning, one hit, one walk performance made sure the second game never got too close for comfort.
“It was pretty good,” Cox said. “I just have to shorten the walks and the hit batters a little bit, but other than that it was pretty good.”
Cox came on in relief at the end of the first game to shut down the Spartans and to preserve a three-run lead. At the end of the day, Cox said she looks forward to helping continue the team’s winning ways.
“I’m just excited for us to keep going,” Cox said.
One of the main themes on the day was errors by both squads. In the first contest, State lost its 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth after making three errors that led to three Greensboro runs. Later in the game, the Spartans made a critical error that helped the Pack take control of the game by earning four runs on four singles. Although errors played a role in both of the contests, Cox said that the team’s hitting was clutch nonetheless.
“We took advantage of them a little bit, but most of our hits were in the gaps,” Cox said. “I don’t really think it mattered, but we did capitalize on it.”
Alyssa Allbritten, fellow Floridian and battery mate, added to her teammate’s thoughts and said the errors did not make a powerful enough impact to truly change the outcome of the games.
“Any time you can take advantage of errors, you take advantage of them,” Allbritten, a senior, said. “In the second game, we saw the pitches well and hit the ball well. That helps no matter what.”
Allbritten, who hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the third in the latter contest, said finding a way to stay above the .500 mark was a definite goal for the team.
“We’re very confident to be above .500,” Allbritten said. “That’s one thing we always want to stay away from.”
Head coach Lisa Navas said she is thrilled for Allbritten to hit the homer, but never doubted it would eventually happen after watching her do the same thing in practice several times.
“She’s been an amazing kid for us,” Navas said. “She took over the number three spot from day one and ran with it. They called a pitch on her a little high for strike one and she just went after the next one. She does that in practice all the time.”
For State, play will continue with a weekend road trip to play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The three-game ACC series will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. from Atlanta, GA and conclude after a noon contest Sunday.
