Wake Forest was all over NC State baseball, defeating the Pack via mercy rule for the second time in two days.
Watching the Demon Deacons’ fifth home run sail over the right field wall to finally end the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Wolfpack (25-14, 8-9 ACC) dropped its series against Wake Forest (27-13, 11-9 ACC).
The offense was quiet in the first inning, with Wake Forest scoring a run off a hit-by-pitch and an RBI single. The second inning is where its offense began to surge, and everything in the lineup started to click for the Deacons. They posted four runs in the second inning, and then six runs in the fourth.
The Wolfpack only held a lead in the beginning of the second inning, when senior right fielder Brayden Fraasman roped a two-run RBI double down the left field line. The Wolfpack held a narrow 2-1 lead, and even stretched it to 3-1 off a fielding error by Wake Forest.
It was home run after home run for the Deacons, as they mashed bombs out of the park, including back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fifth off freshman righthander Aidan Kitchings.
Wake Forest first baseman Luke Costello was unconscious against the Wolfpack, going 4-5 with a home run and five RBI’s.
The depleted bullpen that head coach Elliott Avent has to work with was really tested by Wake Forest today. Without junior starter Jacob Dudan in his usual starting role for Game 2, Avent went to his other dependable junior.
However, it was a day to forget for junior left-handed pitcher Cooper Consiglio. During his tenure on the mound, he allowed for 11 runners to cross home plate, and was the victim of two home runs. The Deacons had him figured out from the beginning, recording 10 hits off him.
Junior shortstop Mikey Ryan had another solid performance at the plate, and was an outlier in the Wolfpack hitting outcome. Ryan was one of two players to have two or more hits, and was the only NC State player to consistently string together successful at bats. He went yard in the seventh inning to cut the Wake Forest lead to single digits.
It’s been an unbelievable past two days for the Wake Forest offense, as it has tallied 40 runs and 32 hits against the Pack in just 13 total innings.
The Wolfpack will play the third and final game of the season series with Wake Forest, Sunday, April 19. First pitch is set for 1pm.
