The NC State baseball team donned its white and green St. Patrick’s Day alternate jerseys and defeated the Miami Hurricanes 5-3 at Doak Field Friday.
The Wolfpack (11-8, 2-2 ACC) broke through for the win on a two-run double from junior Shane Shepard in the eighth inning. State was also propelled by a great pitching performance from senior starter Sean Adler (2-2, 3.23 ERA), who allowed just one unearned run over 4.2 innings pitched. The Hurricanes (8-10, 2-2 ACC) were led offensively by home runs in the eighth inning from Johnny Ruiz and Romy Gonzalez.
“It’s a win and I’ll take it,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “I think we did a lot of good things tonight but there are also things that we’ve gotta do better.”
The Canes came in red hot, winning four of their last five games. However, Miami cooled itself off with several unforced errors early. The first hit of the game came on what was an easy pop fly off the bat of junior Josh McLain that should’ve been caught. The center fielder, however, slipped and dropped the ball on what turned into a double. Although that hit didn’t produce a run, it foretold things to come.
The first run of the game was scored off two self-inflicted wounds. Mendoza singled in the infield, advanced to second on a wild pitch and was moved to third on a ground out from freshman catcher Brad Debo. He then reached home on another wild pitch.
State was in a giving spirit as well. The Wolfpack gifted Miami runners two bases on back-to-back errors in the third inning. The first of which ended up scoring on a sacrifice line drive. But once again, a Canes player showed a lack of awareness as he was caught stealing third with two outs. The play made little sense since he was already in scoring position.
The Wolfpack got a solid starting pitching performance from Adler, who was coming off of back-to-back rough outings, giving up five earned runs in both of his last two starts. He pitched well tonight, giving up just one unearned run, keeping the Pack in the game. However, his command did struggle throughout the game, as he walked five batters.
“That’s the biggest thing,” Adler said. “Whether you have your stuff or not, the team appreciates that after four or five innings, the coaches would say five, that you can keep us in the game. That’s a good job. There is a lot of stuff that I could’ve done better, but at the end of the day if I’m taken out with a good outing, keeping us in the game. I’m happy about that.”
State also got a good contribution from the bullpen, which managed to get outs when it needed them most. With the game tied at one run apiece in the fifth inning, senior Joe O’Donnell came into the game with the bases loaded and two outs. In a high-pressure situation, he struck the batter out to escape the squeeze.
State took a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, scoring two runs on three hits. Freshman Will Wilson started it off with a double and junior Joe Dunand drove Wilson in two batters later with a line-drive single. Debo capped the scoring off with a single of his own that scored Dunand.
The Wolfpack conceded its lead in the eighth inning, when sophomore pitcher Austin Staley gave up two solo home runs to the Hurricanes. Staley would finish out the game on the mound, earning his first win of the season.
State broke through in the bottom of the eighth. With bases loaded, Shepard ripped a curveball into deep left field, scoring two runs to clinch the victory for the Pack, something Avent said that showed the heart of this team.
“I knew he was going to try and go offspeed,” Shepard said. “On that last pitch I was sitting breaking ball. Luckily I got it, and I put a good swing on the ball.”
The Wolfpack will be back in action again tomorrow, as it will take on Miami in the second game of the weekend series at Doak Field in Raleigh.
