Despite the sun going down early, NC State’s bats lit up UNCW pitching early and often as it beat the Seahawks 11-0 at Doak Field on Tuesday afternoon
In the first inning, after base hits by sophomore second baseman Tyler McDonough and junior catcher Patrick Bailey, junior third baseman Devonte Brown brought everyone home with a three-run home run, and gave the Wolfpack (8-0) the early lead over the Seahawks (6-3).
Then, McDonough took his turn getting RBIs to extend the Wolfpack lead, hitting his second single of the game and driving home freshman shortstop Jose Torres in the bottom of the fourth inning, giving the Pack a 4-0 lead.
“We were really prepared to hit a lot today,” Brown said. “And we came ready to play today and we go about our business really well.”
After getting the early cushion, junior pitcher David Harrison proceeded to keep the Seahawks off the scoreboard for 4.2 innings. With two outs in the fourth and the Seahawks in scoring position, head coach Elliott Avent opted to pull Harrison in favor of using his bullpen.
Junior left-handed pitcher Canaan Silver got out of the jam to preserve the shutout for NC State.
“Early in the season, we try to develop roles for pitchers,” Avent said. “I felt like this was a role that Canaan Silver could play. This was more for Canaan to get a feel for his role than it was to give David Harrison a rest.”
Senior right fielder Lawson McArthur got into the fun at the bottom of the fifth, hitting an RBI single that drove in junior left fielder Terrell Tatum. He wasn’t on base for long, as sophomore Luca Tresh, pinch hitting for freshman DH Noah Soles, hit one over the fence for the Pack’s second home run of the game. By the time the Seahawks got out of the inning, the Wolfpack had extended the lead to 7-0.
After going hitless in his first three at-bats, junior outfielder Jonny Butler got on the scoresheet in a big way, driving in Bailey and Brown on a two-run RBI double in the sixth inning, giving the Pack a 9-0 lead.
McDonough wasn’t done driving in runs for the evening, though, and after watching his teammates hit well against Seahawks pitching all game, the sophomore drove in Luca Tresh for an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh, adding another run to an already insurmountable 10-0 Wolfpack lead.
“I don’t think you can ever feel like you have the game,” Brown said. “You just gotta keep playing hard, keep making plays and doing the little things right.”
Junior pinch hitter David Vazquez hit a single in the bottom of the eighth that drove in sophomore pinch hitter David Vazquez from third. That made the Wolfpack lead 11-0, bringing an end to the offensive fireworks.
“As a coach, every win is big,” Avent said. “I don’t care how big it is. But I thought we played very well today and I thought we put our best game together. Now we have to build on that; we’ll be going on the road this weekend, but we’ll be up for the challenge.”
The next time Wolfpack baseball plays will be in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the Cambria College Classic. It’ll be facing off against Iowa at U.S. Bank Stadium on Friday, Feb. 28 at noon.
