RALEIGH, N.C. – The fourth-ranked NC State baseball team wrapped up its non-conference slate with a dominant 15-2 win against the James Madison Dukes Wednesday afternoon at Doak Field at Dail Park.
NC State concludes its midweek slate with an 11-1 mark and its non-conference schedule with a 21-3 record.
The Wolfpack scored 10 plus runs for the 11th time this season and first since a 13-5 win against Notre Dame on April 14. NC State pushed across a pair of runs in the first and never trailed en route to the win.
NC State is now 36-12 on the year, while James Madison falls to 21-25. Freshman David Harrison turned in a career-best performance on the mound to earn his first collegiate win (1-2), while Garrett Richards the starter for JMU took the loss (0-2).
Avent’s Additions
Overall thoughts…
“Yesterday, I thought we played good but today we played really good,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “I just thought we put it together today, everything was good. This is what we played like during that stretch where we were playing really well and today everything fell into place.
“Now you have a really good Wake Forest team coming in with maybe three of the best starting pitchers in the ACC, so it’ll be a good weekend then we have to go down to Tallahassee and then the ACC Tournament. This is what you play for all year to be in a position to be where we are now, and we just have to find a way to put it together.”
Quick Hits
– NC State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first after a pair of sacrifice flies from Will Wilson and Patrick Bailey.
– The Wolfpack broke the game open with five runs in the third to take a 7-0 lead. It marked the 25thtime this season that NCSU has recorded a big inning with four or more runs.
– Stephen Pitarra led off with a single and scored on a double by Wilson, before a sac fly from Kinneman to make it 4-0.
– Brock Deatherage stepped to the plate next and hit his 12thhome run of the season, a three-run blast over the left field wall to give NC State a 7-0 advantage.
– J.T. Jarrett walked to lead off the fourth for the Pack and scored on an RBI single by McLain.
– An RBI groundout from Wilson plated Pitarra, who doubled earlier in the frame to push NCSU’s lead to 9-0.
– The Wolfpack scored three runs in the fifth after an RBI single from catcher Jack Conley, sacrifice fly from Shane Shepard and an RBI single from Wilson.
– Conley drove in his second run of the game with a single to right field in the sixth, as Brett Kinneman raced around to score from second base.
– Freshman David Vazquez hit a sac fly to push the Pack’s lead to 14-1 after JMU ended the shutout with a run in the top half of the sixth.
– In the bottom of the eighth, Conley launched his second home run of the season, a solo shot to left field to give NC State a 15-1 advantage.
– The Dukes pushed across an unearned run in the ninth, but Wolfpack reliever Michael Bienlien struck out the next batter swinging to end the game.
Inside the Box Score
– Three different players turned in three-hit performances, including Conley, Deatherage and Pitarra.
– Wilson had a pair of hits to go along with a game-high four RBI, while Evan Edwards, Kinneman, McLain and Shepard each tallied one hit.
– McLain extended his reached base safely streak to 16 games with the base hit.
– The Wolfpack moves to 17-4 on the year when hitting two or more home runs in a game.
– NC State is also undefeated on the season when scoring 10 or more runs at 11-0.
On the Mound
– Harrison turned in the best performance of his young career to record his first win at NC State.
– He threw 5.2 innings and struck out four batters, while only allowing four hits.
– Redshirt junior Austin Staley pitched for the first time in 2018, as he has been recovering from injury. He faced four batters and forced three flyouts to go along with a hit-by-pitch.
On Deck
NC State returns to action this weekend when the Wake Forest Demon Deacons head to Raleigh for a three-game ACC series. Friday and Saturday’s games are set for 6:30 p.m., while first pitch of Sunday’s game is at 1 p.m.