NC State Baseball
NC State Edged in Extra Innings at No. 11 Florida State
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 11 Florida State slipped past No. 3 NC State baseball in extra innings Thursday night at Dick Howser Stadium, as the Seminoles hit a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 11th to earn the 4-3 win.
In the first extra-inning game of the season, NC State threatened in the top of the 11thafter a leadoff triple by Will Wilson but was unable to push across the go-ahead run and Florida State carried that momentum into the bottom of the inning, as Steven Wells hit a walkoff homer.
The Wolfpack moves to 39-13 on the year and 18-10 in ACC play, while the Seminoles improve to 38-16 and 15-12 in conference action.
Quick Hits
– Florida State struck first in the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third after three singles.
– NC State countered with three runs in the sixth, as junior Brett Kinneman launched his 16th home run of the year to put the Wolfpack ahead, 3-2.
– Kinneman launched a hanging curveball over the right field wall on the first pitch of his at-bat to tie for the ACC lead in home runs and take the conference lead with 59 runs batted in (RBI).
– Stephen Pitarra started the inning on a positive note for the Pack, as he battled out of an 0-2 hole to draw a leadoff walk.
– Freshman Patrick Bailey ripped a two-out single up the middle to put runners on first and second prior to Kinneman’s blast.
– Florida State capitalized on a miscue by NC State defensively to plate an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth and knot the score at three.
– Both teams were held scoreless from that point until the walkoff home run.
On the Mound
– Freshman Reid Johnston turned in a strong start on the mound for NC State, as he pitched five innings and allowed just two earned runs.
– The Enfield, N.C., native struck out four batters and all four hits he yielded were singles.
– Kent Klyman relived him and pitched two innings with three strikeouts before turning the ball over to Connor Centala.
– Centala threw a career-best three innings and struck out three batters in one of the best outings of his NC State career.
– Joe O’Donnell entered the game to pitch the 11thand was charged with the loss after the walkoff home run on a 2-2 pitch.
On Deck
NC State and Florida State return to the field Friday evening for game two of the series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
#21 NC State is coming off of a series victory over UNC this past weekend, and a loss to #7 ECU on the road last night. Where does NC State project to land in the 2024 NCAA Tournament?
The Wolfpack have already seen the Pirates twice this season, but according to D1Baseball and Baseball America, they might not be done playing ECU. Both of them project NC State to be a #2 seed in the Greenville Regional, with D1Baseball projecting the Pirates as the #6 seed and Baseball America projecting them as the #8 seed.
NC State has plenty of baseball left to play, with series against UVA (#14), FSU (#10) and Wake Forest (#8). If the Wolfpack can handle business in 2 of those 3 series, you could make an argument for NC State hosting their own regional.
D1Baseball
Baseball America
#21 NC State lost to #7 ECU 6-10 on the road this evening in a midweek game. As a result, the Pirates have won both games against the Wolfpack in 2024.
When you record 10 hits and score 6 runs, you would hope that’s enough offense to win a baseball game.
Unfortunately the Wolfpack pitching staff was unable to contain the bats of the Pirates, allowing ECU to put 15 hits and 10 runs in the Box Score.
Kudos to Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz for making a STATEment in his return to Clark-LeClair Stadium. A-Mak transferred to NC State from ECU this offseason. This evening Makarewicz was 2-4 with 1 RBI, 2 Runs, and 1 Walk.
A-MAK 👏 ON 👏 THE 👏 ATTACK 👏#Pack9 | @Alec_mak99 pic.twitter.com/7Lps43hXow
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 23, 2024
A-Mak’s Home Run was a part of back-to-back-to-back Home Runs in the Top of the 3rd for the Wolfpack, with Sophomore Right Fielder Josh Hogue and Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart also hitting bombs.
Hogue Homer 💪#Pack9 | @JoshHogue5 pic.twitter.com/CMV3rCQu4B
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 23, 2024
‘Zart completes the trifecta 🤌 pic.twitter.com/gipiWvbcFb
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 23, 2024
NC State will look to flush this loss, and get ready for a 3-game series at home this weekend against Ball State.
Earlier this season on April 2nd, #21 NC State (22-15) lost to #7 ECU (31-8) 4-12 in Raleigh. This evening the Wolfpack will look to get revenge against the Pirates in a game in Greenville at 6pm.
Overall, NC State holds a 71-43 advantage over East Carolina in the series, which dates back to 1957.
Last year, the Wolfpack and the Pirates split their 2-game series, ironically, losing at home, and winning in Greenville.
Replicating last years results will be no small task. The Pirates are ranked 7th in the land, and boast a 3-1 record against ranked opponents this season. One of those wins was against NC State, when the Wolfpack was ranked 19th. The other two ranked wins were at UNC when they were ranked 15th.
NC State has done well against ranked opponents, going 7-4 against teams in the Top-25, and 4-2 against teams in the Top-10.
The Pirates’ pitching staff leads the AAC and is in the Top-10 nationally in ERA (3.61), WHIP (1.18), hits allowed per nine innings (6.99) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.04).
ECU’s home field advantage is a real thing, going 20-2 at home thus far this season.
Senior Carter Cunningham leads the Pirates in nearly every offensive category, batting .396 with 9 Home Runs. He’s not alone though. Five of ECU’s regular starters have batting averages over .300.
It will be a homecoming for Senior Wolfpack Third Baseman Alec Makarewicz, who transferred to NC State from ECU this offseason. A-Mak is having the best season of his career, hitting 15 Home Runs while batting .349. It would be fitting for Makarewicz to win at his old stomping grounds.
NC State’s Baseball team is solidly back in the Top-25 after winning a series over rival UNC this past weekend, winning 2 of 3 at home. Last week, the Wolfpack were ranked 22nd in the Baseball America poll, but in none of the others.
NC State will play a midweek game at East Carolina tomorrow night on the road, and the Pirates rank 7th in the D1Baseball and Coaches Poll.
