Thanks to a clutch eighth-inning hit from sophomore shortstop Will Wilson, the NC State baseball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 6-4 victory over James Madison at Doak Field Tuesday night.
Wilson broke a 4-4 stalemate with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth, and the Wolfpack (35-12, 15-9 ACC) got home runs from freshman catcher Patrick Bailey and junior left fielder Brett Kinneman in the win over the Dukes (21-24).
“Right now it’s a grind,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “You need everybody grinding. It’s going to take everything we’ve got, because tonight I thought we started playing a little better. Tonight I thought we took the best at-bats that we’ve taken in probably six to eight weeks. … We took big-time at-bats tonight.”
Freshman lefty Evan Justice got the start on the mound for the Wolfpack, surrendering three runs on four hits while striking out four and walking two in 4.1 innings.
After a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases for James Madison with one out in the top of the first inning, Justice escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts.
“[Justice] goes after people,” Avent said. “That guy, I tell you what, he’s a guy that just goes after people. His stuff’s really good. Didn’t have his best breaking ball or change up tonight, so he pitched mostly off his fastball. He didn’t always locate it, but he shows how good his fastball is. He competes so hard. He competes right up there at the highest level with all our pitchers.”
The Pack threatened with a single up the middle from Wilson and a towering double to right from Bailey with two outs in the bottom of the first, and Wilson scored from third on a wild pitch to give the team a 1-0 lead.
With runners at second and third with one out in the top of the second, a deep sacrifice fly to right from James Madison first baseman Michael Morgan tied the game at one.
NC State regained the lead in the bottom of the third; Bailey blasted his 10th homer of the year over the center-field wall to make it 2-1.
After Justice gave way to junior righty Nolan Clenney with runners on first and second with one out in the top of the fifth, Clenney walked the bases loaded before a double off the left-field wall for right fielder Adam Sisk gave the Dukes a 3-2 lead. James Madison added to its lead with an RBI groundout to make it 4-2.
The Dukes’ lead was short-lived, however, as Kinneman launched his team-leading 14th dinger of the season to tie the game at four in the bottom of the fifth. The long ball was Kinneman’s first since a 10-3 win at Louisville April 8, snapping a 15-game drought.
“It felt really good; I didn’t know it was that long,” Kinneman said. “I thought over the past week or so I’ve been having better at-bats and things like that, but obviously that one felt better than some of the singles and stuff that I’ve been hitting.”
James Madison threatened in the top of the eight with runners on the corners with two outs, but NC State sophomore reliever Kent Klyman struck out center fielder DaVonn Griffin looking to keep the game tied.
After leaving nine runners on base to that point, the Pack finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth. With runners on second and third and two outs, Wilson lined a single into center to score two and give NC State a 6-4 lead.
“We haven’t been struggling as a team, we’ve obviously been finding ways to win,” Wilson said. “But we haven’t been playing our best and we finally put stuff together and had good at-bats. We left some guys on, but we had some big hits in big situations today.”
Senior closer Joe O’Donnell finished things off for the Pack in the top of the ninth with his ninth save of the season; after the first two batters for James Madison reached on an error and a walk, he retired the side with the help of a double play.
The Pack will be back in action again Wednesday against James Madison at 3 p.m. for the finale of the two-game midweek series.
Junior outfielder Brett Kinneman gets a base hit on Saturday at Doak Field. Kinneman went 1-3 with 1 walk as the Wolfpack beat William & Mary 8-4.
