In what was almost a repeat of the night before, NC State baseball fell apart late and couldn’t come up with the big hits when it needed to as it fell for the second straight game to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, who clinched the series.
With the loss, the Wolfpack (33-19, 14-14 ACC) officially lost its final series of the 2022 regular season after the Demon Deacons (38-16-1, 14-14-1 ACC) defeated the Pack 8-2 in game one and 6-2 in game two. In game one, NC State was able to keep pace with Wake Forest, but a late-game offensive explosion from the Deacons pushed them past the Pack, and tonight was no different.
After staying competitive with Wake Forest for a majority of the game, NC State got a dose of deja vu from the previous night when the Deacons hit a three-run home run to go up 6-1 in the eighth inning. While the Pack tried to claw back in the final two innings, it could not muster the necessary offense to compete with Wake Forest late in the game.
After scoring five runs in the ninth inning the night before, Wake seemed to pick up where it left off in game two, scoring two runs in the top of the first off sophomore right-handed pitcher Matt Willadsen to go up 2-0. The Deacs went scoreless in the second but then hit a solo homer in the third to pad the lead to 3-0.
NC State finally scored its first run in the bottom of the fourth as freshman designated hitter Tommy White scored on a wild pitch, but the Pack missed an opportunity to score another run with one more runner in scoring position.
While the first and third innings didn’t go exactly his way, Willadsen was dealing between the fourth and seventh innings, at one point retiring 12 of 13 batters, and finishing with four hits allowed, three earned runs and nine strikeouts on 116 pitches thrown. But once Willadsen exited, the game quickly went further downhill for the Pack as the Deacs hit a three-run bomb off sophomore right-handed pitcher Garrett Payne to go up 6-1 in the top of the eighth.
Despite falling behind by five, the Pack had a golden opportunity to get back within striking distance in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded, senior second baseman J.T. Jarrett smacked a deep shot to left-center that looked like it was going out of the park, but it was instead caught for an out as sophomore first baseman LuJames Groover III scored on a tag-up to make it 6-2.
In the very next at-bat, sophomore right fielder Noah Soles hit another deep shot that had everyone in the stands holding their breath, but it was once again just short as the Deacs escaped the inning with no further damage done.
That turned out to be the last good opportunity NC State had to put more points on the board as the Pack went down in order in the bottom of the ninth to seal the game and the series.
Losses to the Deacons in back-to-back nights showed the lack of pitching depth for the NC State squad. After solid performances from starting pitchers, both games were lost when the Pack’s relievers were relied upon. With the impending ACC tournament and possible NCAA tournament on the horizon for the Pack, all members of NC State’s bullpen will have to step up to find success.
NC State will play its regular season finale on Saturday, May 21 at 1 p.m. where the Pack will celebrate senior day and try to add one final win to its record before postseason play begins.
