In its second game in paradise, No. 13 NC State baseball suffered an eighth-inning collapse against Hawaii, quickly turning a 5-3 lead into a 7-5 loss in Honolulu, Hawaii.
After an explosive 17-12 series opening win, the Wolfpack (3-2) couldn’t muster enough offensive firepower to overcome the Rainbow Warriors (3-3). While its pitching staff held Hawaii to just three runs before the eighth, the Wolfpack’s pen had trouble holding itself together late in the contest.
Down 5-3, the Rainbow Warriors led a four-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the lead, and Hawaii did anything and everything it needed to make it happen. The home side used walks, stolen bases, singles and took advantage of NC State errors to run up its score.
Two Wolfpack pitching changes later, the Rainbow Warriors had taken a 7-5 lead over NC State. With one final chance to even the odds, Hawaii captured three quick outs to end the Pack’s hopes of its first series sweep of the season.
Earlier in the day, sophomore left-handed pitcher Dominic Fritton earned the Saturday start for the second week in a row and worked 3.2 innings for the Pack9 and a bizarre second inning got Hawaii on the board. Fritton’s defense committed two errors that scored Hawaii’s first run, and two walks in a row scored another for the Rainbow Warriors.
While Fritton didn’t give up a hit, NC State still found itself in a 2-0 hole. The sophomore pitched another 1.2 innings and was replaced by freshman right-handed pitcher Jaxon Lucas in the fourth after Hawaii threatened to increase its lead. However, Lucas worked his way out of the jam by forcing a fly out and only gave up one more run in the next inning.
NC State’s bats finally woke up in the fifth inning when a solo home run from senior designated hitter Andrew Bechtel got the Wolfpack on the board. From there, NC State put up two runs in the sixth and one run in both the seventh and eighth innings.
The Wolfpack started the sixth inning with a double from graduate first baseman Garrett Pennington. A single from graduate third baseman Alec Makarewicz — who hit two home runs in the series opener — scored Pennington. Makarewicz scored on a sacrifice fly just a few plays later, evening up the score at 3-3.
A double from junior shortstop Brandon Butterworth and a fielding error got NC State in position to score early in the next frame. With another sacrifice fly, this one courtesy of senior right fielder Noah Soles, NC State took the lead at 4-3.
The Wolfpack scored its final run in the top of the eighth with a series of singles that drove Makarewicz home. Despite the loss, the graduate added to an already impressive series with a total of seven RBIs and four hits in just two days of play.
After that, Hawaii put on a show in the bottom of the frame and shut down the Wolfpack in the ninth, forcing a rubber match in the series finale between the two sides.
First pitch for the last time in Hawaii is set for 6:05 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 25.
