CONWAY, S.C. — NC State baseball’s Patrick Bailey evidently enjoys playing on the South Carolina coast . For the second time in a 3-0 weekend in Myrtle Beach and Conway, he played the role of the hero in the 11th inning, launching a solo shot to left to give the Pack a 7-6 win over Coastal Carolina at Spring Brooks Stadium Sunday.
The Wolfpack’s (7-0) top three hitters were productive Sunday. Bailey finished the game 3 of 5 with a run scored, two RBIs and the homer. Senior first baseman Evan Edwards had a huge day against the Chanticleers (7-1), going 2 of 5 with a run scored and four RBIs, including a game-tying, two-run homer in the fifth inning. Junior shortstop Will Wilson went 3 for 6 with two runs scored and an RBI.
“This environment can rattle the other team, and I never once thought we got rattled,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “I was really proud of our guys for that. I don’t think we got rattled, I just think we weren’t playing very well early. Once [Dalton] Feeney came in the game and settled that thing down and once Evan hit that home run, then I saw an NC State team that seemed a little more confident and we started doing things well.”
With the game tied 6-6 in the top of the 11th, NC State needed a big hit to head back to Raleigh with three wins. For the second time on the weekend, Bailey provided. The switch-hitting catcher led off the second extra inning by blasting a shot just over the Coastal Carolina bullpen fence and giving NC State a 7-6 lead it would not relinquish.
“[The count was] 2-0, so I was hunting fastball,” Bailey said. “I was able to get it, so I put the barrel on it and I was tired of hitting on the ground today because of the wind blowing out so I was making sure that I was getting it in the air. I think the wind took it and took it over.”
After the Pack’s first three pitchers struggled, redshirt sophomore reliever Dalton Feeney was stellar in four shutout innings. He retired the first 11 he faced, allowing just one hit and striking out three while walking one on 43 pitches.
“I came out of the bullpen knowing I’ve just got to throw strikes,” Feeney said. “I’ve got to have all three pitches working for me and trust my defense. When you have a defense like that, like ours, you’ve got to come out and throw strikes because they’re going to make plays for you.”
NC State needed a rally after starting behind the eight ball. Coastal took a 6-2 lead through four innings after NC State sophomore Nick Swiney gave up home runs in fourth inning and the Chanticleers tacked on a run on a wild pitch in the third and RBI double in the fourth.
A two-run single from Edwards in the top of the third kept things close, and the big three came through in the top of the fifth.
NC State’s first baserunners reached after sophomore second baseman J.T. Jarrett was hit by a pitch and sophomore left fielder Jonny Butler walked, Wilson roped a double into right center to bring home Jarrett, and Bailey brought Butler in with a sac fly to left.
“Pretty much the whole weekend, I feel like we’ve been down early especially Kent State and here,” Bailey said. “We’ve had to battle back. … It’s very easy to hit when people are on base and momentum’s going. Just one through nine’s been doing a really good job so far of starting rallies and driving guys in.”
That brought Edwards to the plate with Wilson on second and a chance to, at the very least, bring the Pack another run closer. The senior slugger did more than that, blasting his third homer of the season over the right-field wall to tie the game at six.
“It just feels good to get the team going right there,” Edwards said. “I know we had a couple runs earlier that kind of got us going a little bit, but that right there just tied the game up. We just built off of that.”
With the game still tied at six entering the bottom of the ninth, Feeney surrendered a lead-off single and walked the second batter to put runners on first and second before giving way to junior lefty Kent Klyman. Kylman retired the side via a popup, fielder’s choice and swinging strikeout, sending the Wolfpack to extra innings for the second time on the weekend.
Klyman pitched out of another jam in the bottom of the 10th, getting a swinging strikeout to get out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam. After Bailey’s go-ahead homer in the 11th, Klyman again found himself in a tough situation in the bottom of the inning.
A pair of singles and a fielder’s choice gave Coastal runners on second and third with two down and a chance to at least extend the game, but flyout to right ended it and kept the Pack undefeated on the season while the Chanticleers took their first loss.
“I’ve always admired his guts and his toughness.,” Avent said. “He’s got a little bit of Carlos Rodon in him. He likes to be in that moment, he believes in himself and he’s smart to boot. He not only believes in himself. Sometimes if you believe in yourself and you’re that tough-minded you can lose yourself in the moment. He’s smart too. He’s smart out there. It’s great for him because he loves NC State.”
NC State will be back in action Wednesday against Campbell at Jim Perry Stadium in Buies Creek, N.C.
Baseball team members celebrate the first Wolfpack home run of the game during the third inning against Coastal Carolina University at Vrooman Field at Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina, Sunday, Feb. 24. The Pack won all three games of the Baseball at the Beach series, making the season record 7-0.
