NC State Baseball
No. 1 NC State Falls Short In Series Finale With Eagles, 3-1
BRIGHTON, Mass. – Top-ranked NC State baseball was unable to overcome a late deficit on Sunday afternoon in its series finale with Boston College at Harrington Athletics Village in Brighton, Mass., as it suffered a 3-1 loss.
With the score knotted at one through seven-and-a-half innings, the Eagles tacked on two in the eighth and was able to hold off the Wolfpack’s threat of runners at second and third with one out in the ninth.
The Pack moves to 29-4 overall and 12-3 in ACC play, while the Eagles avoid the sweep to improve to 15-17 on the season and 6-9 in league play.
Quick Hits
-BC struck in the first on a bases-loaded sac fly to left field foul territory. The Eagles offense managed to load the bases back up with two outs, but Canaan Silver picked up his first strikeout in relief to limit the damage.
-Patrick Bailey knotted the score in the fourth with a leadoff homer, his sixth of the year, to right center.
-The score held for three more innings, as only a combined three batters from both teams were able to reach base in the stretch.
-The Eagles took back its lead in the eighth with a pair of runs on as many hits. Jake Alu’s single up the middle plated the first run after a hit-by-pitch and sac bunt put a runner in scoring position.
-Following another base hit that put runners at the corners, pinch hitter Sal Frelick’s sac fly to center brought the second run across.
-The Wolfpack looked to come back with a ninth-inning rally. Evan Edwards led off the frame with a single through the left side and Tyler McDonough was hit-by-pitch, while Brad Debo’s groundout to second allowed the Pack to threaten with runners at second and third. The attempted comeback fell short though as two quick outs ended the game.
Inside The Box Score
-Will Wilson collected two of the team’s four hits in the contest, while Bailey and Edwards provided the other two to extend their reached base streaks to 33 games.
-Edwards also extended his hit streak to 14.
On The Mound
-Five Wolfpack pitchers made an appearance, led by Canaan Silver’s strong outing in relief. He didn’t allow a run to cross in his six innings of work and scatted a pair of hits.
-Cameron Cotter was charged with his second loss of the year after giving up the go-ahead run in the eighth.
On Deck
The Wolfpack will open a four-game home stand Wednesday when it hosts Coastal Carolina. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at Doak Field, and the contest will be broadcast live on the ACC Network Extra.
#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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