No. 4 NC State Takes Series Opener Against Wake Forest with 8-5 Win

RALEIGH, N.C. – The fourth-ranked NC State baseball team recorded its sixth consecutive win with an 8-5 victory in game one of the series against Wake Forest Friday night at Doak Field at Dail Park.

After the Demon Deacons knotted the score at 5-5 in the top of the sixth, the Wolfpack answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half and added a run in the eighth to secure the win.

NC State moves to 37-12 on the year and 16-9 in ACC play, while Wake Forest falls to 22-27 and 11-14 in conference action. Sophomore Kent Klyman earned the win on the mound with 3.2 innings of shutout relief, while Wake Forest reliever Antonio Menendez was charged with the loss (0-4).

Avent’s Additions
Overall thoughts…
“I thought we played really well,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “Griffin Roberts is as good as anybody in this league, I thought we had some really good at-bats and made him throw a lot of pitches and got to their bullpen early.

“I thought Reid [Johnston] was outstanding. It’s impressive to have a freshman be your Friday night starter at this time of the year. He continues to compete on every big stage. He is the epitome of a competitive pitcher; our staff is full of them”

Quick Hits
– NC State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first after a three-run homer from Brett Kinneman, his 15th of the year which ties the ACC lead.
– Stephen Pitarra started the inning with a single and Patrick Bailey reached on a fielder’s choice to score on Kinneman’s blast.
– The Wolfpack tacked on a pair of runs in the fourth to open up a 5-0 advantage after a two-RBI single from Will Wilson to plate J.T. Jarrett and Pitarra, who both walked earlier in the frame.
– Wake Forest trimmed the deficit to 5-3 in the fifth, after scoring its first run of the game on a balk call before a two-RBI single from Patrick Frick.
– A two-run homer from the Deacs’ Bobby Seymour knotted the score at 5-5 in the top of the sixth.
– NC State countered with a pair of runs in the bottom half to regain the lead, 7-5.
– Pitarra scored from third on a balk and McLain scored on a sacrifice fly from Wilson.
– In the eighth, Wilson picked up his fourth RBI of the game as he doubled to right center to score McLain, who tripled to start the inning, and push the NC State lead to 8-5.

Inside the Box Score
– McLain led the Wolfpack at the plate and was the only player in the game to record three hits, as he extended his reached base safely streak to 18 games.
– Freshman Patrick Bailey and Wilson also turned in multi-hit outings, as both tallied a pair of hits in the contest.
– Brock Deatherage, Kinneman and Pitarra all had one hit for the Wolfpack.

On the Mound
– Freshman Reid Johnston started on the mound for NC State and pitched 4.2 innings, allowing just one hit to go along with a career-best six strikeouts.
– He retired 10 consecutive batters from the second to the fifth inning, but struggled with his command late in the fifth.
– Klyman was stellar in relief to pick up his sixth win, as he allowed just three hits in 3.2 shutout innings of work.

On Deck
NC State and Wake Forest return to the field for game two of the series Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m.