NC State struggled offensively and fell to Army in the first game of the Raleigh Regional on Friday night.
Freshman starting pitcher Reid Johnston was effective, but NC State (40-17) had nothing to combat Army’s (37-22) starting pitcher Ty Giovinco, who pitched 6.1 innings and allowed one run on seven hits. The Pack only reached third base in the seventh inning when it scored it’s lone run of the game.
“I thought [Army] played outstanding,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “We had a great scouting report, watched them all week. We knew their lefty was good and we knew if he was on we’d have problems. Any lefty that can locate a fastball to both sides of the plate as well as he could, and command the strike zone … He was lights out. … I thought we played ok. We hit some balls hard, got some hits, just didn’t string them together.”
The Pack threatened in the first inning, collecting three total hits, but Army was able to escape the inning without giving up a run, because of a double play and strike out on senior right fielder Brock Deatherage with two men on.
In the third inning, Army’s Jacob Hurtubise singled to right field and the nations stolen base leader took second and was on the way to third when Army laid down a bunt. Hurtubise never stopped and scored as Johnston covered first base to give Army a 1-0 lead.
Army’s leadoff walk in the fourth inning turned into a sure run when freshman catcher Patrick Bailey’s pickoff attempt escaped down the right-field line and the runner advanced all the way to third. The next batter hit a sacrifice fly to left field to increase Army’s lead to 2-0.
“It’s baseball; stuff doesn’t always go your way,” sophomore shortstop Will Wilson said. “You run into some walls you’ve got to keep pushing through but we’ve been a resilient team and we’ve just got to keep coming out and playing our hard-nosed baseball we’ve been playing all year.”
Johnston was plagued with long innings throughout the night, reaching 71 pitches in the fifth inning when he allowed a runner to second base with one out. Johnston was replaced by redshirt freshman left-hander Connor Centala who escaped the inning without allowing a run.
Johnston pitched 4.1 innings, gave up one earned run on two hits and struck out four.
NC State gave up two pivotal runs in the sixth inning. With runners on first and second with one out, junior right-hander Nolan Clenney came in for Centala and allowed an RBI double followed by a sacrifice fly to extend Army’s lead to 4-0.
Freshman reliever David Harrison came into the game in the seventh inning and could not retire the Knights in order. The leadoff runner walked and later scored on an RBI single to right field making it 5-0.
The Pack showed signs of life in the seventh, loading the bases with one out with senior pinch hitter Shane Shepard up at the plate. Shepard got a run in, but traded an out with a sacrifice fly to center field. Then, senior center fielder Josh McLain stepped to the plate with two outs and two men on, but struck out swinging to end the threat.
“We’ve just got to back each other up when somebody’s not doing good,” said junior first baseman Evan Edwards, who finished the game 3 for 4. “We’ve just got to come out tomorrow and have a good day.”
To lead off the eighth inning, Army’s Trey Martin hit a slow roller toward first base that Harrison bare handed and slid under Martin before his shovel pass reached first base to get the first out of the inning. Harrison was then replaced by sophomore Mathieu Gauthier, who finished out the game.
The Wolfpack strung up a couple base runners in the ninth, but couldn’t get across the plate leaving the score at 5-1.
“That was a tough game,” Avent said. “When guys go out and pitch like Army pitched, and you sit there and you thought you had some good at-bats and hit some balls hard and you don’t have anything to show for it. You keep thinking you’re going to get back in the game, but then they make another pitch.”
NC State will play in an elimination game on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Northeastern with ACC Pitcher of the Year Brian Brown on the mound for the Pack.
Freshman pitcher Reid Johnston delivers the ball against Army at Doak Field on Friday. Johnston pitched 4.1 innings, giving up two hits, one earned run and striking out four as the Wolfpack lost 5-1.
