After taking Game 2 of the series against Virginia Tech, NC State baseball fumbled in the series finale, losing 5-4.
With the loss, the Wolfpack (27-16, 10-11 ACC) has been beaten in four ACC series this season; with the ACC being one of the most competitive conferences in college baseball, any team can catch fire and rise on the leaderboards in one weekend. NC State is at risk of falling down the ladder, as Virginia Tech was one of its easier remaining opponents.
The Hokies (22-20, 11-13 ACC) are currently ranked six spots ahead of NC State on the NCAA RPI leaderboard at No. 41. With the Wolfpack yet to play a series against No. 2 North Carolina, it needed this win for its resume. However, the Hokies needed this series win too, and the bats came at the right time for Virginia Tech.
The Wolfpack couldn’t catch a break, as every time it made a score, the Hokies countered with a strike of their own. It was a back-and-forth contest the entire way, but the Pack ran out of gas in the top of the ninth, going down in three batters to give the game to Virginia Tech.
It was a one-to-nothing game until the sixth inning, when the Pack bats finally woke up after only having one hit up until that point. With two men on base and sophomore center fielder Ty Head up to bat, the Virginia Tech pitching coach made his way to the mound to talk with his starter, Griffin Stieg. After the visit, Head was intentionally walked, bringing up junior third baseman Sherman Johnson to bat.
Johnson came into the at-bat with an aggressive mindset and connected on the first pitch, lining it through the right field gap. The baserunners sprinted around the bases like a freight train, with Head bringing up the rear and sliding into home to put three runs on the board for NC State. These three runs were the only time NC State looked in a rhythm on offense.
The athleticism didn’t stop there for Head, and it was on full display in the outfield. In the bottom of the fifth, the Hokies had a man on base with one out and Owen Petrich at the plate. The nine-hole batter rocked a ball into the deep left-center gap. Head never lost sight of the ball, sprinting and diving to make a SportsCenter Top Ten-worthy play at the warning track.
While the Wolfpack came up short in this one, its defense gave it all it had. Only eight balls turned into hits for the Hokies. The team finished the game with zero errors, and the bullpen played solidly besides a handful of pitches that it would have wanted back.
The pitching on the mound for head coach Elliott Avent lacked a veteran presence, with three of the arms being freshmen, and the fourth a sophomore.
Freshman Luke Hemric got the start, but it wasn’t what he had hoped it would be. The left-hander allowed four runs to cross the plate on five hits; although his strike percentage was fairly high, he found the zone on 60% of his pitches.
Freshman reliever Sam Harris came on in the eighth inning after the lead had been blown in the bottom of the eighth, but the righty’s inexperience showed. He faced two batters and allowed a single and a ground-rule double to put runners on second and third base.
Avent tried a pitching change, replacing Harris with freshman righty Michael Ragusa. The Florida native threw six pitches to Virginia Tech second baseman Ethan Ball before hanging a slider that Ball sent to right field. The sacrifice fly-out was enough to drive in a run and give the Hokies the game-winning score.
The Wolfpack will look to get back into the win column in a mid-week matchup against East Carolina University on Tuesday, April 28. First pitch is set to be thrown at The Doak at 6 p.m.
