NC State Baseball
#1 NC State Rallies to Earn 6-4 Win in 9th, 1st Ever Sweep Against Miami
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Trailing by two and down to its final two outs, top-ranked NC State baseball scored four runs in the top of the ninth to rally for a 6-4 win against the Miami Hurricanes Sunday afternoon at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
The win marked the first time that the Wolfpack has ever swept the Hurricanes. NC State moves to 23-1 on the year, leading the nation in wins, and 8-1 in ACC play, leading the conference in wins.
NC State has now recorded 12 come-from-behind wins, including seven when trailing after the sixth inning. Miami falls to 15-9 and 3-6 in ACC action.
Junior Michael Bienlien earned the win on the mound and is now 3-1, while Miami closer Daniel Federman was charged with the loss.
Quick Hits
– NC State didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard, as the Wolfpack pushed across a run in the top of the first.
– Jonny Butler doubled down the right field line to start the game and scored on an RBI single by Patrick Bailey to give the Pack a 1-0 lead.
– Miami countered with a run in the second inning following three singles and threatened for more, but NC State was able to get out of the jam.
– With the bases loaded, sophomore Canaan Silver came in to relieve starter Andrew Blake and struck out the first batter before inducing a groundout to end the inning.
– The Wolfpack grabbed a 2-1 lead in the sixth following a single from Tyler McDonough and an RBI double off the wall in left center by Brad Debo.
– Miami pulled ahead 4-2 after scoring a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly and two in the eighth.
– David Vazquez sparked the NC State in the ninth, as he reached on an error and Lawson McArthur followed with a pinch-hit double.
– A misplay in center field allowed Vazquez to score from first to cut the Hurricanes advantage to 4-3.
– Freshman Luca Tresh came off the bench for the Wolfpack and had one of the best at-bats of the game, as he fell behind in the count 0-2 before battling back to even the count and ripping a single to left field to put NC State runners on first and third.
– Butler singled to right field to drive in McArthur and knot the score at 4-4.
– An error by the shortstop allowed Will Wilson to reach and J.T. Jarrett to score, giving the Pack a 5-4 lead and McDonough walked with the bases loaded to push the tally to 6-4.
– In the bottom of the ninth, the leadoff batter walked for Miami but Bienlien got the next batter to hit a check swing grounder to Vazquez at third base and he started the 5-4-3 double play.
– Bienlien then struck out the next batter swinging to seal the win for NC State.
Inside the Box Score
– Butler and McDonough led the Wolfpack at the plate, as each turned in a pair of hits. It was McDonough’s team-leading 14th multi-hit game of the season.
– Six other NC State batters had a hit in the contest.
– The Pack compiled a .316 batting average with runners on base in the game, while limiting Miami to a .222 clip.
– NC State used seven pitchers in the game, as junior Andrew Blake made the first start of his Wolfpack career.
On Deck
NC State will return to action with a pair of midweek games, as the Wolfpack hosts Elon Tuesday evening and travels to N.C. A&T Wednesday for a matchup held at First National Bank Field, home of Minor League Baseball’s Greensboro Grasshoppers.
#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.
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