In a battle between two evenly matched teams, runs were at a premium during the series between N.C. State and Maryland this weekend since neither team scored more than two runs or recorded more than five hits in any game. A 2-0 victory in game one would be the only one of the weekend as State dropped games two and three by the scores of 2-0 and 1-0, respectively.
The Pack entered play sporting a 27-21 (8-7 ACC) record. Their opponents from College Park, Md. came into the series with a similar 27-18 record and 5-9 in conference play. The teams lived up to their even records with a series of close, low scoring affairs at Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Softball Stadium.
State pulled out a hard-fought victory in game one on the back of a 72 pitch, five hit performance from ace pitcher Lindsay Campana. The team scratched out two hard fought runs in the bottom of the 8th inning that would prove to be all the team needed to hold on to the lead.
In game two, the team continued to put balls in play, but was stymied by bad luck and failed to push across any runs. Buoyed by this good luck and a strong performance from their starter, Maryland managed two runs of their own, again in the 8th inning. A strong performance from sophomore pitcher Stephanie Call, who gave up four hits, walked one and struck out five was not enough.
Game three was the rubber match between these two stalemated squads. Campana again took the pitcher’s circle and hurled a complete game, fanning nine batters. Her stellar performance on the mound was matched by her teammates’ splendid defense, but the Wolfpack managed only one hit in the game and were unable to mount much of an offensive fight against the Terps.
The lack of scoring led to added pressure on the defense to step up. First baseman and right fielder Allison Presnell made numerous strong plays in the field throughout the series.
“The defense has gotten better throughout the seasons,” Presnell said. “We’ve focused on the fundamentals all year and it’s paid off.”
The evenly matched teams struggled to put runs on the board, which led to every at bat having that much more import and pressure.
“We put pressure on ourselves to do well. We just have to relax and hit the ball, but there’s always pressure,” Presnell said. “We put the ball in play all weekend, but we just couldn’t catch a break.”
Landon Warren, who currently possesses the top average on the team with a .320 batting average and managed the team’s lone hit Sunday, was upbeat about the team’s performance.
“We have a ton of heart on this team and a top potential to be great,” Warren said. “Everybody contributes, we have good chemistry, and we just have to focus on getting the job done.”
Even though the team lost the series, Campana knows that they need to keep up the good play next weekend against Georgia Tech.
“We have to earn everything, we know that,” Campana said. “Maryland’s a middle of the pack team and trying to get better, so they weren’t going to take it easy, and neither will Georgia Tech next weekend.”
