The NC State baseball team dominated for the second straight game, as the Pack crushed the North Carolina A&T Aggies 16-5 at Doak Baseball Stadium in Raleigh.
Coming into the game, the Wolfpack (14-9, 3-5 ACC) had won two straight in dominating fashion, outscoring the Boston College Eagles and Elon Phoenix by a combined score of 23-4, including a 14-run shutout of the Phoenix Tuesday night. North Carolina A&T (3-18) entered the game having lost nine of its previous 10 games.
Prior to the streak, the Pack struggled to produce offensively, getting outscored by its opponents 28-15 over the course of six games.
The Wolfpack bats got to work early in the bottom of the first against A&T’s sophomore left-handed pitcher Danny Garrett (0-0, 7.36 ERA), with the first five batters getting on base before recording its first out of the game. Four runs were driven in during the inning as State took an early 4-0 lead.
Garrett struggled to find command of his pitches early, giving up six runs in the first two innings. Right-handed sophomore Kaesen Wilson replaced him in the second inning. A&T eventually ended the inning with a fly out to right field, but still trailed 6-0.
The Aggies didn’t get on the scoreboard until the third inning, after freshman center fielder Myles Sowell hit a sacrifice fly to right field driving in freshman third baseman AJ Hunt. Freshman second baseman Milton Rivera eventually scored on a wild pitch thrown by junior left-handed pitcher Brad Stone (1-0, 2.31 ERA). The inning would end on a fielder’s choice to second, with the Pack still ahead by a score of 6-2.
After getting two quick outs in the bottom of the third, NC State freshman left fielder Brock Deatherage reached second base. Following Deatherage’s double, senior second baseman Logan Ratledge got hit by a pitch, Preston Palmeiro hit a line drive to bring Deatherage home for the RBI, but Ratledge was caught advancing to third, closing the inning with the Pack on top 7-2.
After surrendering an early run in the top of the fourth, Stone was relieved by freshman right-handed pitcher Evan Mendoza. Stone finished the game with two hits, four walks and one strikeout in 3 1/3 innings. Mendoza surrendered two more runs in the inning, as the Aggies narrowed the Wolfpack lead to 7-5.
After two innings of solid work for the Aggies, Wilson was relieved by senior right-handed pitcher Charles Cantrell. Cantrell would relieve the side, giving the Pack its first scoreless inning of the night.
Mendoza was replaced on the mound by redshirt junior reliever Travis Orwig early in the sixth. Orwig delivered for the Pack, pitching three scoreless innings and earning his first win of the year. When asked about the situation, Orwig was focused on the task at hand.
“I found a good rhythm to get into and brought that out to the mound tonight,” Orwig said. “I knew that I could beat them as long as I pitched the way that I pitched.”
After two scoreless innings, the Pack bats awakened and tacked on four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and three in the bottom of the seventh to increase the lead to 14-5. NC State would tack on two more runs in the eighth and finish off the Aggies 16-5.
Jake Fincher and Andrew Knizner were the offensive leaders in the game, combining for five hits and four RBIs. Additionally, Fincher is now tied for seventh on the NC State all-time triples list with the 11th of his career. Fincher remained humble about the accomplishment.
”I wasn’t really aware of the record when it happened,” Fincher said. “But I hope I can set some more awesome records.”
The Pack will face the Pittsburgh Panthers in an ACC series this weekend at Doak field and will look to continue its offensive resurgence.
