On the opening weekend for the NC State softball team, the Pack went 2-3 in the Florida Atlantic Kickoff Classic, beating Bethune-Cookman and Boston University, and coming up just short to No. 23 Florida Atlantic, Troy and Michigan State. The Wolfpack played tough, only losing by two runs each in each of these matchups.
Bethune-Cookman took the early 1-0 lead with a run in the first, but the Pack answered in the fifth inning. Senior Molly Hutchison hit a RBI single, sophomore Cheyenne Blazer hit a sacrifice fly and sophomore Jessica Moore hit a RBI double to seal the deal. Bethune-Cookman was never able to recover as NC State held a 4-2 victory.
The Pack played great defense against the No. 23 team in the country as freshman Payton Silverman not only made her collegiate debut, but also struck out eight batters. However, this was not enough for the Wolfpack as Florida Atlantic’s All-American pitcher, Kylee Hanson, threw a complete game, striking out 10 batters. NC State fell short in this one 2-0, going 1-1 on the opening day of competition.
On Day Two, NC State came out strong initially, going up 3-0 in the first inning against Troy after Moore was walked with bases loaded, and freshman Jade Caraway and sophomore Brittany Nimmo both hit sacrifice flies. The Pack was not able to hang on to its lead as Troy scored a run in the second, two in the fourth and two in the sixth to secure the come-from-behind win, 5-3.
In the next game against Michigan State, the Wolfpack got off to a sluggish start. The Spartans put up four runs in the first inning, and the comeback seemed out of reach; then in the sixth inning, the pack scored four runs of its own to tie the ballgame. With the bases loaded in the fourth, junior Alyssa Compton and freshman Haley Finn were both walked, yielding the Pack two runs. Later in the inning, senior Tyler Ross hit a single RBl that brought two girls home to tie the game. However, the momentum swung in the bottom of the seventh, Celeste Wood of Michigan State hit a walk-off two-run homer, rejecting the Wolfpack of a comeback victory, 6-4.
In the final contest of the Kickoff Classic, Boston got off to an early lead, scoring runs in the first two innings, until NC State quickly answered with a monstrous seven runs in the third. Caraway hit an early RBI allowing sophomore Macauley Prickett to score the first run. Ross scored off of an error to tie the game, and then the Pack put its foot on the pedal. Hutchison hit a double RBI to send Caraway in, then Blazer hit a homerun to put NC State up 5-2. Moore and Nimmo had doubles, and Ross had a single to put the pack up 7-2. After NC State established a comfortable lead, the Terriers were never able to recover as the Pack sealed the tourney with a 9-6 win.
The Wolfpack competed well on opening weekend. NC State had solid field play for the majority of the weekend, especially against No. 23 FAU. On the other hand, the Pack received respectable contributions from behind the plate. Hutchison and Ross had their usual productive outings. After the tourney, the seniors are batting .438 and .333, respectively.
NC State’s next time out on the diamond will be the ACC/Big 10 challenge, playing No. 6 Michigan on Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m., then No. 16 Minnesota Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
