NC State Baseball
7th Inning Rally Powers #1 NC State to Series Win Over UVA
RALEIGH, N.C. – Thanks to a four-run seventh inning, No. 1 NC State earned its 13th come-from-behind win of the season to clinch the series against Virginia with an 8-7 victory Sunday afternoon at Doak Field at Dail Park.
The Wolfpack has now won 11 games deciding by one run this season and owns 13 comeback wins, including eight when trailing after the sixth inning.
Virginia grabbed a 7-4 lead with four runs in the top of the seventh, but NC State answered with four runs, pulling ahead by the final margin, 8-7.
NC State moves to 27-2 on the year, leading the nation in wins, and is the first team in the ACC to reach 10 conference wins this season (10-2). Virginia falls to 16-12 and 6-6 in league play.
Sophomore Nick Swiney earned his second win on the mound, while Cameron Cotter came in late to shut the door and nail down his first career save. Virginia reliever Chesdin Harrington was charged with the loss.
Avent’s Additions
“I’m really proud of our ballclub,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “Virginia’s playing extremely well, that’s a team that has won a National Championship and a lot of games in our league. They got off to a slow start, but they’ve put it together and are playing with a lot of confidence.
“Sunday’s are hard to play, we’ve been in two tough games and that expends a lot of energy. All the come-from-behind wins give you confidence at how good you are and what you can do, but it also takes a little bit out of you.
“It’s been a grind, two midweek games after coming back from Miami. It’s really been tough, so I’m really proud of the way we came back. This team just doesn’t quit and it’s just amazing what they have done.”
Quick Hits
– NC State struck first in the contest for the 17th time this season, as the Wolfpack loaded the bases with nobody out in the second inning.
– A sacrifice fly to left field from David Vazquez plated the game’s first run, but a double play followed as the Pack was not able to get more.
– Virginia countered with a pair of runs in the fourth after an RBI single from Zach Gelof and an NC State error to take a 2-1 advantage.
– The Wolfpack answered in the bottom half following another RBI from Vazquez, as he singled to center field to score Tyler McDonough from second base to level the score at 2-2.
– Tanner Morris gave Virginia a 3-2 lead with a solo homer in the fifth, but it was short-lived, as NC State responded with a pair in the bottom half to retake the lead.
– Following a double from Vojtech Mensik and a single from Jonny Butler, Will Wilson reached on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop to plate Mensik.
– Butler got a great read on a pitch in the dirt that didn’t skip too far away from the UVA catcher and he was able to score from third on the wild pitch, giving his team a 4-3 lead.
– The teams combined to push across eight runs in the seventh inning, four for each team.
– Virginia strung together a few hits, as they seemed to find holes just out of reach of Wolfpack players.
– Butler ignited the NC State rally in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff triple to right center and Wilson followed with an RBI double down the left field line.
– Two batters later, Evan Edwards singled to the right side to score Wilson, cutting the UVA lead to 7-6.
– McDonough came up clutch, as he has done throughout the season, launching a two-run, go-ahead homer off the scoreboard in right field to put NC State on top, 8-7. It was his second homer of the year and it came on a 1-0 pitch.
– Virginia had the tying run on third with one out in the ninth, but Cotter induced a soft groundout to Wilson at shortstop and a flyout to Dillon Cooperin right field to preserve the win.
Inside the Box Score
– Wilson led the Wolfpack at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance, as he tallied three doubles, two RBI and a run scored.
– Butler and McDonough also tallied multi-hit games with the former adding two runs scored and the latter two RBI and two runs scored.
– Bailey and Edwards each extended their reached base safely streaks to 29 games, as they have been on base in every game this season.
On the Mound
– Seven NC State pitchers combined to walk just one batter in the game, while striking out seven batters.
– Redshirt sophomore Dalton Feeney made his first start of the season and threw 3.1 innings, allowing just three hits and struck out three batters.
– Swiney got the Wolfpack out of the top of the seventh after Virginia rallied and was credited with the win.
On Deck
NC State will return to action Tuesday eveningwhen the squad makes its second trip to the BB&T Ballpark in downtown Charlotte for a matchup with South Carolina. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.