The NC State baseball team was eliminated on Sunday afternoon, falling 9-2 to East Carolina in the first elimination game of the NCAA Greenville Regional after allowing a six-run third inning and collecting only four hits.
The Pack (42-19) couldn’t get much going against the Pirates (44-16) as starting pitcher Jake Agnos went eight-plus innings, gave up two runs on four hits and striking out nine on 127 pitches. Junior Jason Parker took the mound for the Pack but was taken out in a disastrous third inning where ECU scored the majority of its runs and collected five of its 11 hits.
“First and foremost, just the guys leaving,” said sophomore catcher Patrick Bailey. “It’s tough, there’s a lot of friendships. Just being with each other. That’s the hardest thing.”
The Pack desperately needed a good start to kick off the first elimination game of the year and did just that, with Bailey lining the first pitch he saw into the trees in left field. The home run got NC State the early momentum it was looking for by starting the game with a 1-0 lead.
On the pitching side, Parker pitched a perfect first inning, striking out the first two batters on three and four pitches, respectively, then ended the inning with a grounder to second base.
Everything turned around in the bottom of the third. The life was sucked out of NC State as East Carolina hit two singles in the first three batters then tied the game on a fielder’s choice that made the second out of the inning.
Parker left the game after the second single and made way for sophomore Evan Justice. Parker pitched 2.1 innings and gave up two runs on three hits while earning five strikeouts.
“I’m kind of speechless right now,” Parker said. “I started off good. Had good command of the stuff, lost it a little. Things just didn’t fall where I wanted to, a couple of bad breaks. That’s how it went.”
Instead of getting out of the inning with a chance, Justice allowed a walk and back-to-back RBI singles after the fielder’s choice and was replaced by junior Michael Bienlien. Bienlien allowed a one-RBI double that scored a second run on an error by sophomore right fielder Devonte Brown to the first, and only, batter he faced.
“[Parker] has done an unbelievable job for us all year, and he’s been kind of stretched thin down the stretch,” Avent said. “We maneuvered how we used him. He did an unbelievable job today, so I thought he’ll probably go further than we thought. But, that inning we felt like we had to go with a lefty against [Alec Burleson]. [Justice] was a guy we had matched up for Burleson, and he came in and did his job then it went haywire a little bit.”
Sophomore Nick Swiney came in for the second consecutive game and gave up one more run on a wild pitch to make it 6-1 Pirates, then collected the third out. Swiney settled in after that, totaling 2.1 innings, one hit and five strikeouts. He threw 58 pitches in four innings against Campbell on Friday and 54 pitches against ECU, proving to be the best relief pitcher NC State had down the stretch of the season.
Agnos held the Pack to limited scoring chances, collecting three-up, three-down innings in the fourth and fifth innings. In the sixth inning, he walked two batters with two outs, but freshman center fielder Tyler McDonough struck out to end the inning.
Again in the seventh inning, NC State got a runner in scoring position with a leadoff double from junior designated hitter Brad Debo, but two foul outs and a strikeout ended any thought of a rally.
East Carolina put in the dagger in the bottom of the seventh inning with a two-run home run to right-center field off junior Kent Klyman, who had just pitched a perfect sixth inning. ECU added insult to injury to make it 8-1 and then made it 9-1 off sophomore Dalton Feeney in the eighth.
With a 1-2-3 eighth inning, Agnos came back out for the ninth inning to give a shot at the complete game. However, senior first baseman Evan Edwards led off the ninth with a moonshot to right-center field to make it 9-2.
“I don’t think you think about building right now, you think about what [Patrick Bailey] said,” Avent said. “Evan Edwards was a senior who gave us everything for two years, and he’s sitting there and hit the mammoth home run. He was in there crying and hugging Pat at the end. You build friendships, and that’s what you think about right now.”
That would be all for Agnos who reached 127 pitches in eight incredible innings. The only runs were the first-inning bomb from Bailey and the ninth inning solo shot from Edwards. He only gave up four hits total while striking out nine. On top of that, he brought passion and energy to an ECU team facing elimination and saved the bullpen for the Pirates.
NC State failed to get through a regional again in the 2019 season and will lose Edwards and senior Nolan Clenney to graduation, and junior shortstop Will Wilson to the MLB draft with the possibility of a couple more.
“There’s not enough I could say. For a program that’s had so many good shortstops,” Avent said. “In a line of them, Will is a great, great player. That’s a tough one. I watched him sit in that dugout, and that’s a tough one right there.”
Sophomore outfielder Terrell Tatum strikes out to end the season against ECU on Sunday, June 2 at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville. As a pinch hitter, the strikeout was Tatum’s only at-bat of the game as the Wolfpack lost 9-2.
