NC State baseball traveled to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers at Charles L. Cost Field. In the team’s first true road test of the season, the Pack delivered with a series win against the Panthers.
The win against Pitt (14-9, 2-4 ACC) pushed the Wolfpack (17-7, 4-2 ACC) to third in the ACC behind Florida State. The Pack has now won 14 of its last 16, dismissing concerns that were created in February when the Wolfpack lost five straight.
Game 2, 6-4 win
The Pack kept the bats hot when it mattered, and capitalized on four Pitt errors to secure its 6-4 win in Game 2.
The Wolfpack totaled nine hits on the day, but the bats just were not hot enough to give fans any breathing room. Pitt kept its bats hot, totaling 13 hits and putting significant pressure on the defense. When the Wolfpack had runners in scoring position, it went 4-5 from the batter’s box when there were less than two outs. The clutch scoring is the reason the Pack came out on top.
The Wolfpack entered the scoring column in the bottom of the third when two RBI outs from senior shortstop Justin DeCriscio and junior designated hitter Josh Hogue pushed runners in scoring position home.
Hogue was a bright spot for the Wolfpack in the series opener, as he homered to give the red-and-white a commanding lead. Game 2 wasn’t the same as Hogue went 0-4 from the batter’s box, but he found a way to bring in a run and score one himself.
Sophomore second baseman Luke Nixon was the unsung hero for the Wolfpack’s offense in Saturday’s game. Nixon only went 1-4, but he posted two crucial RBIs and two stolen bases to help the Wolfpack secure the win.
The first run came in the top of the fourth when redshirt sophomore center Drew Lamphere pierced a ball between the third baseman and the shortstop. The single allowed Nixon to score from third and pushed the lead to 3-0 in favor of the Wolfpack. Nixon got his only hit in the top of the seventh, a single that scored sophomore catcher Alex Sosa.
The Wolfpack would strike again in the top of the fifth as Nixon once again crushed a ground ball right to the shortstop, scoring Hogue and advancing runners to second and third. Junior right fielder Brayden Fraasman stepped up to the plate with runners on third and second with two outs left. Fraasman sent a liner up the middle to earn himself a single and score the runner from third.
In the top of the seventh, the Wolfpack pushed the lead to 6-4 off of back-to-back errors that closed the coffin on Pitt. The run was scored by Sosa after he reached first on the third baseman’s error. In the next at-bat, Nixon singled to right field, allowing Sosa to reach home after a costly error from Pittsburgh right fielder Lorenzo Carrier.
The Wolfpack was beaten in almost every statistic on the offensive side of the ball. The Pack defense was dialed in and posted a perfect fielding percentage with zero errors. The defense also stopped the Panthers any time the bases were loaded as strong pitching from freshman Anderson Nance and junior Andrew Shaffner ended any chance of a comeback.
Shaffner came on in the ninth to attempt to save the game. With 26 pitches thrown and the final batter falling in only three pitches, Shaffner picked up his second save of the season.
The Wolfpack threw 18 more pitches and had eight fewer strikes than the Panthers, all while tossing 26 more balls than the Pitt pitchers. Pitching for the Wolfpack had seen better days, but it still was a positive from the win as pitchers were able to stand their ground and shut down the Pittsburgh bats for frames seven through nine.
Game 3, 5-3 loss
A slow pace of play and an inability to contain the Pittsburgh offense cost the Pack Game 3. It lost the final game of the series 5-3 after the game was called after the top of the eighth due to the 4 p.m. travel day curfew as the team had to bus all the way back to Raleigh.
Although the Pack missed out on a chance to stage a comeback in the ninth, the blame can only come down on its inability to bring in runners in scoring position, stranding men on third in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
Still, with an opportunity in the eighth, the Pack went out sad, going down in order to end the game.
Most of the lineup had an unproductive day at the plate, with just four players recording hits while the Pack recorded six walks in total. When it did get runners on base, nobody could bring them in with junior third baseman Matt Heavner being the only player to record an RBI — a fielder’s choice bunt.
The other Wolfpack runs were scored on a wild pitch and a throwing error from the Pittsburgh second baseman.
Defensively, NC State had a few of its best arms on the mound, with sophomore left-handed pitcher Ryan Marohn getting the start. He had a shaky first inning, as two runners reached scoring position with no outs. He quickly retired the next three batters to end the inning, getting out of the jam.
Marohn lost his command in the second, giving up two runs on a double and a wild pitch. He regrouped and kept the scorecard clean until the fifth, giving up another run, and ended his day with 5.2 innings pitched. Senior right-handed pitcher Carson Kelly came in, retiring the final batter in the sixth inning.
Marohn more than doubled his season walk total, walking five Pittsburgh batters, after having walked just four batters in his previous five starts — allowing for defensive errors and wild pitches to cost NC State.
Shaffner was assigned the loss after giving up the tie in the seventh, one run coming from a double and a clutch Pittsburgh RBI single.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jacob Dudan came in and gave up an unearned run off a single, but closed out the seventh with three straight outs.
Next up, the Pack will face USC Upstate at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Doak Field.
