NC State Baseball
NC State Baseball Drops NCAA Raleigh Regional Opener to Army, 5-1
RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 9 NC State baseball team suffered a 5-1 loss to Army on Friday evening in its NCAA Regional opener at Doak Field at Dail Park.
NC State returns to action Saturday afternoon when it faces Northeastern at 2 p.m., and the winner will face the loser of the Auburn/Army game Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Wolfpack falls to 40-17 on the season while the Black Knights improve to 37-22.
Quick Hits
– Army struck first in the contest with a run on Ron Rosoff’s groundout to first base, scoring Jacob Hurtubise from second as he was moving with the pitch and raced around to score.
– The Black Knights tacked on a second run in the fourth thanks to Trey Martin’s sacrifice fly to left field to plate Ant Giachin.
– Army doubled its lead in the sixth following Rob Regine’s RBI double down the left field line and Drake Titus’s sacrifice fly to center field.
– In the seventh, Hurtubise scored for the second time on the day to extend Army’s lead to 5-0. He walked, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch to score on Giachin’s hit.
– The Pack threatened in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out but was only able to get a run out of it after a sacrifice fly from Shane Shepard.
Inside the Box Score
– Will Wilson and Evan Edwards led the team at the plate, as they both turned in a 3-for-4 performance.
– Josh McLain, Brett Kinneman and Patrick Bailey each tallied a base hit to contribute to the team’s nine in the contest.
– Reid Johnston earned the start on the mound and was hit with his first loss of the season, after allowing one earned run in 4.1 innings with four strikeouts.
– Army starter Tyler Giovinco went 6.1 innings to earn his ninth win.
On Deck
NC State returns to action tomorrow against Northeastern at 2 p.m. in its second game of the NCAA Raleigh Regional. The winner will face the loser of the Auburn/Army game Sunday at 2 p.m. in the fifth game of the weekend at Doak Field.
NC State and #11 UNC will kickoff a 3-game series in Raleigh tonight, but before the two rivals hit the diamond, here’s a Bracketology report for the Wolfpack before the first pitch.
D1Baseball currently projects that NC State will be the #2 seed in Greenville Region, hosted by #9 seed East Carolina. Back on April 2nd, the Wolfpack lost 4-12 to the Pirates at the Doak.
Baseball America projects NC State will be a #2 seed in the Knoxville Region, hosted by #6 seed Tennessee.
The Wolfpack are currently 20-14 overall, ranking 33rd in the RPI.
#22 NC State Baseball continues to be a roller coaster ride to follow. After winning 2 out of 3 down at Clemson this past weekend, the Wolfpack lost 7-11 to Campbell in 12 innings last night.
NC State had their chances, leaving 19 batters on base (Campbell left 13). The Wolfpack trailed 7-2 heading into the bottom of the 8th, but they responded with 4 runs, cutting it to a 1-run game. In the bottom of the 9th, Sophomore Center Fielder Eli Serrano III hit a solo Home Run to tie the game to send it to extra innings.
CLUTCH 🥶#Pack9 | @eliserrano__ pic.twitter.com/z61sLMOYtG
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 17, 2024
Things went off the rails in the Top of the 12th. Serrano III almost made an incredible diving catch, but the ball popped out of his glove, which led to 2 Campbell runs. In the midst of the chaos, due to a throwing error on the play, a Camel runner advanced to third, and he was able to run across the plate on a groundout the very next at bat. A couple of batters later, with the bases juiced, NC State hit a batter, bringing across the 4th run of the inning.
Despite 2 errors, all 11 runs were earned runs. On the year, the ERA of NC State’s Pitching staff is 6.63, which ranks 2nd-to-last in the ACC. That’s a problem.
Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz was 2 for 5 with an RBI, 2 Runs and 2 Walks. Both of his Hits went for extra bases, with one being a bomb, and the other being a Double. The Home Run was Pennington’s 14th of the year. A-Mak’s batting .357, and his OPS is 1.188.
CLUTCH 🥶#Pack9 | @eliserrano__ pic.twitter.com/z61sLMOYtG
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 17, 2024
Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington was 3 of 6 at the plate, with 2 RBI’s, 1 Run and 1 Walk.
Penny plates a pair ➕2️⃣#Pack9 | @Garrettpenn14 pic.twitter.com/bKjDyitXIh
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 17, 2024
Pennington’s batting average is .366 and his OPS is 1.125.
NC State has now lost 3 straight midweek games.
The Wolfpack will look to regroup as their rival #11 UNC comes to town for a 3-game series this weekend.
NC State Baseball
NC State Finds Their Way Back Into the Top-25 in 1 Poll After Series Win at Clemson
NC State won 2 of their 4 games last week, winning 2 out of 3 against Clemson on the road this past weekend, and losing to UNCW on the road in a midweek game. Prior to the 2 victories against the Tigers, the Wolfpack had lost 5 straight games, suffering a sweep at Louisville the weekend before.
As a result of NC State’s big series victory at Clemson, the Wolfpack are back in Baseball America’s Top-25.
NC State didn’t manage to crack the Top-25 for D1Baseball, Perfect Game or the USAToday Coaches Poll. The Wolfpack currently rank 31st in the Coaches Poll.
The NCBWA Poll hasn’t been released yet.
NC State will host Campbell tomorrow night at 6pm, which will be followed up by a series at the Doak this weekend against rival #11 UNC.