The No. 10 NC State baseball team clinched its first series win of the season with a 6-4 victory over the Evansville Purple Aces on Saturday, Feb. 19. A pitcher’s duel in the first few innings eventually gave way to a 6-0 Wolfpack lead that Evansville couldn’t quite overcome.
Freshman first baseman Tommy White (2-4, 4 RBI, HR) continued his early-season tear, smashing a grand slam in the sixth to extend the Pack’s (2-0) lead to 6-0. The Purple Aces (0-2) attempted a late comeback with a pair of runs in each of the final two innings, but a resilient Wolfpack bullpen held them off to secure the win.
“I think the team played well, ” White said. “We definitely have to pick up on some defense but overall, I think in the inning that the grand slam happened, there were great at-bats from everybody. We really strung it together.”
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Matt Willadsen (4.2 IP, 0 ER, H, 6 K, 4 BB) started on the mound for NC State but took a while to get going. Willadsen struggled to find the zone in the first, allowing a single, a walk and a wild pitch before ultimately escaping a two-on, one-out jam.
Willadsen settled in over the next few innings, however, tossing 1-2-3 innings in the second and third. The fourth found Willadsen in another dicey situation with runners on first and second and two out.
“I felt pretty good once I started getting the feel for the pitches, I thought it was pretty good,” Willadsen said.
With right-handed pitcher Nick Smith dealing for Evansville, Willadsen needed to escape another jam to keep the Purple Aces from scoring first. Redshirt junior third baseman Josh Hood (2-4) came up with a big play, spearing a hard grounder to his left and firing to first for the third out, getting Willadsen out of the inning unscathed.
The Pack made good on this escape by taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom frame. Hood kickstarted the offense with a leadoff ground-rule double down the right field line followed by a four-pitch walk for freshman catcher Jacob Cozart (0-3, BB). Senior second baseman J.T. Jarrett (1-3) laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners and set up an RBI single for sophomore right fiedler Noah Soles (3-4, RBI) in the next at-bat. Senior center fielder Devonte Brown (2-4, RBI, BB) tacked on an RBI single of his own before the inning was over.
A rough start to the fifth disrupted Willadsen’s groove, prompting senior left-handed pitcher Canaan Silver (3.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 K) to enter in relief. Silver got NC State out of another two-out jam and then held Evansville at bay into the eighth inning.
White was held in check over his first few plate appearances with a pop-out, a single and a strikeout going into the sixth inning. After smacking three homers over the fence on opening day, White worked his way to a 3-1 count with the bases loaded to triple the Pack’s lead with a grand slam.
“I was just looking for fastballs and he kept throwing me change ups outside and stuff, so I wasn’t really finding anything to hit,” White said. “Luckily, I got a [good] 3-1 pitch.”
The Purple Aces didn’t give up, however, tacking on two runs in the eighth against a fading Silver. Not long after a two-run homer put Evansville on the board, redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Logan Whitaker (1.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H) came out of the bullpen to close out the game.
Despite a fresh arm on the mound for State, Evansville extended its late rally from the eighth inning into the ninth. The Purple Aces ran through two baserunners off two hits and a Wolfpack error to cut the lead to just two runs. Whitaker and the rest of the defense were able to fend off the Purple Aces as a fly out to right field caught by Soles left two Evansville runners stranded as the game ended.
Coming off a 24-6 win over Evansville in its season opener, NC State carried this momentum into its second win of the series. While it wasn’t the offensive onslaught that it was in the first game, the Pack aim to keep its focus and not give anything away throughout the entire series.
“I don’t think they lost focus,” Avent said. “We can see they’re a good team, you can tell they’re a good team. You can tell they’re seasoned, you can tell they know how to play the game and they do things the right way. So I don’t think we relaxed at all.”
The Pack is set to wrap up its series against Evansville Sunday, Feb. 20 as it looks to sweep the Purple Aces. First pitch is at 1 p.m. as it looks to move to 3-0 on the season.
