Throughout the night, Samford Stadium was filled with the boisterous cheer of baseball fans, as NC State and UCF headlined the teams’ opening game for a spot in the regional winners bracket.
The cheering was interrupted in the eighth inning by the shattering sound of a lightning strike, and wouldn’t be heard again till noon the next day.
Much like the days of youth travel ball, the NC State baseball team went to bed very late last night and arose early for playing time. The lack of sleep comes after the game was originally postponed at 9:47 pm, then it was decided at 11 pm that the game would resume 12 hours later.
The Wolfpack (32-22) went into the break trailing by six runs, hoping to flush the last seven innings from its mind and treat the final four outs like a brand new game. UCF (31-21), the No. 2 seed in the region, had other plans, and finished off the Pack in just fifteen minutes to claim the 9-3 victory.
When the Wolfpack came to play on Saturday morning, it came with hands on hips, no smiles in the dugout, and a somber facial expression from head coach Elliott Avent. The suspension damaged the only tiny bit of momentum the Wolfpack had created — junior first baseman Chris McHugh was parked on second and the Pack looked to score for the first time since the beginning frame.
It’s only fitting that the last scoring opportunity the Wolfpack had fell on the shoulders of sophomore centerfielder Ty Head. Head has been a major leader for the Pack all season, and has a long career ahead, but this at-bat will stay with him. With two outs, he found himself in a full-count and a huge next pitch coming. Head failed to connect with the heater, and stranded yet another runner.
Getting on base was not the issue for NC State, it was pushing the players across home plate that posed especially difficult. The Wolfpack out-hit the Knights by one, but it stranded 11 more runners than UCF. Sophomore shortstop Mikey Ryan led the top of the ninth off with a single, but to no gain, as the Pack would go down in order after, bringing the total of stranded baserunners to 14.
While it was a quiet offensive performance from the Wolfpack, it put the ball in play consistently, just right to the defense. The usual power from the Pack lineup didn’t show up, as the UCF defense didn’t allow a single ball hit by NC State to leave the park. On the contrary, the Knights slammed four homers, three of them coming from outfielder Andrew Williamson.
It was another great performance from Ryan — who has developed into a dependable at-bat as the season has gone on — and he showed it against the Knights. He went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring a run himself and driving in another. He was also aggressive on the basepath, as he picked up a stolen base to round out a productive showing despite the loss.
Pitching coach Clint Chrysler and Avent made the decision to start sophomore righty Anderson Nance. With a thinned-bullpen, Nance had taken a larger role towards the end of the season, but his inexperience was exposed by the Knights. In his 20th appearance this year, Nance allowed the Knights to score eight runs on nine hits, digging a hole that was too deep to climb out.
The bullpen has been the Achilles’ heel of the Wolfpack for the last dozen weeks of the season, with Avent and Chrysler reminiscing of a time when healthy Wolfpack relievers would dice-up opposing lineups.
The hardest hitting loss was the injury to junior veteran lefthander Ryan Marohn, who would have pitched if his injury hadn’t sidelined him for this game. While Nance had a strong start and went six total innings, Marohn was missed. With seven wins and just one loss on the season, Marohn had only allowed 20 total runs, putting his season ERA to 3.18; elite stuff at the collegiate level. He is the clear leader among the Wolfpack’s pitching staff, and his absence in the postseason was loud.
The loss to UCF is a big one, as it forces NC State into the losers bracket, where it will face the host of the region, the Auburn Tigers in an elimination game. For many Wolfpack fans, the matchup against Auburn was expected but not in the bracket they expected after the Tigers shocking opening-round loss to the No. 4 seed Milwaukee Panthers.
The win-or-go-home matchup is potentially the last game for head coach Avent, and it will commence just four hours after the end of the matchup against UCF at 3 p.m. EST. The game is available for streaming on ESPN+ and ACC Network.
