NC State baseball bounced back from its first loss of the year, topping Towson 11-1 behind an offensive barrage and an impressive combined pitching performance Tuesday night at Doak Field
The Wolfpack (20-1, 5-1 ACC) becomes the first team in the nation to reach 20 wins while the Tigers (3-14) couldn’t muster much offensively and struggled on the mound, giving up 13 hits, walking five and striking out just four batters.
“It was a game you worry about,” head coach Elliot Avent said. “I thought they came out and did a really good job. I’m really proud of the way they played today.”
Sophomore outfielder Jonny Butler raised his average from .239 to .275 after going a perfect 4 for 4 with two RBIs, a double, a walk and four runs. Junior shortstop Will Wilson followed suit, going 3 for 5 with a double and a home run, his fifth of the year. Not to be outdone, senior first baseman Evan Edwards added three RBIs of his own while sophomore designated hitter Patrick Bailey also earned an RBI. Overall, the top four spots in the order combined for 10 of the 11 RBIs on the night.
“I definitely felt good because I did not play well the past couple of games,” Butler said. “So it was nice to see the ball get through. I didn’t make the best contact on it, but I felt like I swung at pretty good pitches and didn’t chase anything out of the zone, so I feel like that was the game rewarding me.”
Redshirt senior Nolan Clenney was credited with the win, his first of the season. Sophomore left-handers David Harrison and Canaan Silver, along with freshman Andrew Tillery, all turned in scoreless performances to close out the rout.
Junior right-hander Mathieu Gauthier got the start, but it didn’t last long. He faced just five batters, giving up three hits before Avent called on Clenney. Thanks to an unsuccessful steal by the Tigers and a strikeout by Clenney, the Pack was able to escape the jam unscathed.
“You can almost look at every game,” Avent said. “There’s always someone who either starts the game or comes in to put a stop in, to allow you to get into a rhythm of trying to produce some runs, and Clenney was it today.”
The NC State bats started off hot in the first inning when Bailey hit an RBI double down the right-field line to score Butler. Edwards followed with an RBI sacrifice fly, and freshman center fielder Tyler Mcdonough hit an RBI single to center field to give NC State a 3-0 lead in the first frame.
The Pack tacked on another run when Wilson drove an RBI double to left field in the second inning, chasing Towson starting pitcher Matt Watters from the game after surrendering four earned runs on six hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Edwards led off the third inning with a towering home run to right-center field, his sixth of the season, to put the Pack up 4-0. Towson cut the lead to 4-1 in the following frame, but that would be the lone run of the contest for the Tigers.
Clenney’s day would end in the fifth inning after allowing only one run on four hits while posting six strikeouts and one walk. Harrison would then take the bump for NC State, facing the minimum six batters in his two innings of work with no walks.
NC State added two more runs in the sixth when Butler hit a hard single up the middle to score freshman third baseman Vojtech Mensik and an Edwards RBI sac fly to left field scored Butler to make it 7-1.
Silver came in for Harrison in the seventh. Harrison did not allow a hit in two innings while striking out three.
If the game wasn’t already out of reach for the Tigers, it became that way after a four-run seventh inning by NC State, highlighted by a three-run home run by Wilson and an RBI single by Butler to push the score to 11-1.
“Their guy was throwing a lot of first-pitch sliders,” Wilson said. “I sat on a first-pitch slider and I got one up in the zone, and put a good swing on it, so I knew it had a chance.”
Tillery came in to close the game for the Wolfpack and in his first career appearance retired the side in order as NC State won 11-1.
NC State is back in action Friday as they make a trip down to Coral Gables, Florida to play Miami in a three-game set.
Redshirt senior pitcher Nolan Clenney delivers a pitch against Towson on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at Doak Field. Clenney pitched 3.1 innings, striking out six and giving up four hits, one earned run and two walks in the Wolfpack’s 11-1 win.
