Tornadoes weren’t the only thing that ripped through Raleigh this weekend as N.C. State uprooted UNC this weekend with a 5-4 series victory, a close 8-7 win in Saturday’s matchup and a dominating 10-2 victory Sunday to complete a series sweep over the fifth ranked Tarheels. Sunday’s victory marked the first time State has swept Carolina since head coach Elliott Avent’s inaugural season in 1997. With the sweep the Wolfpack improved to 21-16 and 8-10 in the ACC.
Eight out of the nine Wolfpack starters hit safely on Sunday and every starter reached base at least once. Junior outfielder John Giannis paced the offense with a 4-5 day and sophomore outfielder Cameron Conner also contributed three hits, including two doubles and pair of RBI’s. Sunday’s offensive outburst was an appropriate ending to a series that couldn’t have gone any better for the Pack
“We had a lot of confidence swinging the bats,” Conner said. “We knew we needed to win. We wanted to not only win but win big and that’s what we came out and did.”
State was unable to take advantage of early scoring opportunities, loading the bases in the second and third innings, but finally broke through in the fifth inning to a 4-0 lead.
State loaded the bases again thanks to a leadoff single from junior outfielder Brett Williams, a walk by junior catcher Pratt Maynard, and perfectly placed bunt single from junior infielder Andrew Ciencen. Sophomore outfielder Tarran Senay followed with a two RBI single past the first baseman and Conner added a two RBI double of his own to give the pack the lead.
The Wolfpack continued to pour it on in the sixth adding six more runs. After loading the bases again, junior infielder Harold Riggins found a hole on the left side to drive in a run and senior Chris Schaeffer, came through with a pinch hit two RBI double. Schaeffer eventually came around to score on a Giannis RBI double who then stole third and scored on a wild pitch extending the lead to 10-0.
Carolina managed to score in the ninth but it was too little, too late as the Pack went on to the 10-2 win and series sweep.
In addition to the offensive onslaught was a tremendous effort from the pitching staff, most notably redshirt senior Rob Chamra. He earned his team-leading fifth victory of the season allowing only four hits in 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Chamra has pitched well both as a starter and coming out of the pen this year, establishing himself as one of the Pack’s most valuable pitchers.
“I didn’t have my best stuff but I tried locating everything, and I let those guys behind me make the plays,” Chamra said. “I let them put the ball in play and good things happened today.”
The defense was once again a vital factor in the team’s success this weekend. Brett Williams made a game changing catch in the fourth inning yesterday that ended Carolina’s only legitimate threat of the game. With one out and runners on first and second, Williams tracked down a ball in the gap catching it up against the wall, and had the presence of mind to double off the runner at second to end the inning.
“That’s 2 runs right there,” coach Avent said. “That was the play of the game no question.”
The series victory was especially big for the Pack who came into the weekend on a four game skid. After being swept by Miami last weekend and dropping a game to UNC Wilmington last week, State responded in impressive fashion as it could ill afford to drop another ACC series.
“I’m not even sure if you can put it in words or people can understand what it took for them to play this well and this hard with this kind of toughness after the last 4 games,” Coach Avent said. “This is probably as proud as I’ve been in a group of players that I can remember.”
The Pack begins a busy 5-game week at Doak Field tomorrow at 6 p.m. against the Campbell Camels.
