Despite a career-high in strikeouts from its starting pitcher, NC State baseball fell to No. 2 North Carolina 9-4.
The Wolfpack (31-20) welcomed a rival from down the road, the UNC Tar Heels (42-9), to the Doak. The Heels held a 6-0 lead after five innings, before the Pack bats threatened the lead, scoring four runs in the sixth. The Tar Heels answered with three more runs in the last three innings to secure the win.
Junior right-handed pitcher Heath Andrews started on the mound for the Pack and had a night for himself, throwing a career high of 10 strikeouts.
“Heath threw a lot better than the numbers gonna say on that paper,” head coach Elliot Avent said. “They’re a good hitting team, and I thought he had good stuff tonight.”
Aside from his 10 strikeouts, Andrews gave up six runs on six hits in 6.0 innings. UNC scored five runs in the fifth after Andrews allowed two home runs, hit out of the park by Tar Heel batters Owen Hull and Tyler Howe.
After giving up five runs in the fifth, the Wolfpack started the sixth with a six-run deficit. Andrews was back on the mound with a vengeance and had his strongest frame of the game. He efficiently struck out three Tar Heel batters in a row — flipping the inning and earning his eighth, ninth and tenth strikeouts of the night — before exiting the game after throwing a total of 100 pitches.
In the bottom of the sixth, with two Wolfpack players on base from back-to-back walks, junior infielder Sherman Johnson hit his eighth home run of the season and brought in three runs. Freshman outfielder Rett Johnson followed up with an RBI single to make it a two run game.
The Pack bats struggled to score after that, remaining dormant for the remainder of the game.
“We had a shot, but you’re playing the number two team in the country and they’re deserving of that ranking,” Avent said. “You gotta play a little better than we played tonight.”
When Wolfpack baseball is looking dark, a bright spot is the young star in left field. Freshman outfielder Rett Johnson extended his hitting streak to 25 games with two hits against the Heels for the night. Hitting .404, Johnson’s batting average is ranked second in the ACC and 10th nationally. He is on track to be the first Pack player to hit over .400 on a season since Aaron Bates in 2005. Earlier this week, the freshman accepted an invitation to Team USA’s training camp this summer in Cary, North Carolina.
As the regular season comes to a close, NC State baseball is on the borderline of post-season play with aspirations of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. A Wolfpack win or two against No. 2 North Carolina would strengthen the Pack’s resume for selection Monday.
The Wolfpack will have a shot at redemption and chance to even the series as it takes on the Tar Heels for the second game Friday night, with the first pitch set for 7 p.m.
