Pack baseball evens series against No. 10 Notre Dame, records seventh win in eight games

Kat Peters, Staff Writer • April 17, 2021

Freshman pitcher Sam Highfill pitches against Louisville on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at Doak Field. Highfill pitched four and two-thirds innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits while striking out three. The Wolfpack lost 6-3.

After a close loss to the Fighting Irish in the first game of the weekend series, the NC State baseball team came back to take the second game 5-2 on Saturday, April 17. The Pack secured the win after taking an early lead of four runs after three innings.

The Wolfpack (16-12, 9-11 ACC) came out early in the first inning, scoring two runs after the first out. The first run by sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough (1-3, 2 BB) was on an RBI single by sophomore catcher Luca Tresh (1-5, RBI), while the second run by junior first baseman Austin Murr (2-5, 2B) was on another base hit center field by freshman shortstop Jose Torres (1-3, 2 RBI).

The Pack bats continued in the second inning as junior right fielder Devonte Brown (2-3, RBI, HR, BB) scored on a grounder to second base by junior designated hitter Terrell Tatum (0-4, RBI) to extend the lead by three runs. Freshman right-handed pitcher Sam Highfill (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 K) allowed one hit to the Fighting Irish (17-7, 15-7 ACC), but Notre Dame left one runner on base and was left scoreless again.

Extending NC State’s lead in the third to four runs was Murr scoring on a hit from Torres. NC State was unable to continue its scoring streak in the fourth, leaving one runner on base. The Fighting Irish had its third 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, with Highfill retiring seven batters in a row.

The fifth inning was scoreless for both teams again, leaving the score at 4-0. While the Pack remained scoreless in the sixth as well, Notre Dame was finally able to get some runs on the board. A double to right center field brought two runners home to bring the score to 4-2. Junior left-hand pitcher Evan Justice (3.1 IP, 2 H, 4 K) was brought in for Highfill after the double to finish out the game.

NC State had its first 1-2-3 inning in the seventh and Notre Dame also remained scoreless. Brown came out as the first batter in the eighth and scored the only home run of the game, his fifth of the season. This was the final score of the game, as Notre Dame wasn’t able to get anything going in the bottom of the eighth and the ninth was scoreless for both teams with the final being 5-2.

The series will conclude on Sunday, April 18 with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. The final game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.