NC State baseball is off to a strong start, defeating South Carolina 15-5 at Doak Field on Sunday afternoon for its first of two fall games this season.
The Wolfpack dominated the field today, holding the Gamecocks to only five runs while tripling their score. Overall, the Pack was able to produce 15 runs off 18 hits with highlights including home runs from both freshman shortstop Jose Torres and sophomore second baseman Tyler McDonough in the fourth inning to raise NC State’s lead to 5-1.
“I think we played pretty good,” Torres said. “We came out with a lot of energy. Our guys came in early, we were intense. It was our day to have fun. It went pretty good, pretty smooth.”
Starting from the first inning, the Wolfpack shut down the Gamecocks and took control of the pace of the game after a home run from sophomore designated hitter Luca Tresh brought the Pack’s lead to 2-0.
Following the pair of home runs in the fourth, junior infielder J. T. Jarrett was also able to add to the Pack’s domination with an RBI single. The offense produced again in the fifth inning, with an RBI double from junior first basemen Austin Murr and a single from Torres.
While it was a strong offensive day for the Wolfpack, there were a pair of errors in the third inning that led to a run for the Gamecocks. Errors that could have been fatal had the Pack not been on top of its game today.
“Errors mean a lot to you,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “The first one was just ridiculous where we kind of just got to it late on a ball in the dirt and then just threw it wildly. And I guess the other one was the same thing, caught a line drive and I guess they threw it and it got by. Both runs winded up scoring. There was just no reason for those plays to be made. But those were just mental decisions, bad mental decisions, but they can be corrected. Defensively I thought we played very very well. I thought we played well all over to be honest.”
In the seventh inning, the Pack was able to score on a two-out base hit from Murr and was also able to capitalize on a two-RBI single by freshman infielder Will Butcher in the eighth. In the ninth inning, Torres shined again with a triple to score another RBI. The Wolfpack also produced runs in both the 10th and 12th innings thanks to a couple of key hits.
“I mean it’s like a dream, a dream come true,” Torres said. “As a kid, you dream about hitting a home run at the collegiate level or the next level, so it was awesome. It was everything I dreamed for.
The Wolfpack will wrap up its fall season against UNC-Wilmington at Brooks Field this Sunday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m.
