NC State Baseball
#17 NC State Falls In Extras To Clemson, 4-3
RALEIGH – For just the fourth time this season, No. 17 NC State baseball went to extra innings but ultimately dropped a 4-3 (10) result on Saturday afternoon at Doak Field at Dail Park.
Clemson led for six-and-a-half innings, but the Wolfpack managed to tie it up in the seventh and force the contest to 10 innings. The Tigers ultimately came out on top to even the series.
NC State falls to 38-14 overall and 15-11 in ACC play, while Clemson improves to 30-21 on the year and 13-13 against conference opponents.
Quick Hits
-The Tigers struck early with two runs in the first inning. Michael Green drew a leadoff walk and stole second to get into scoring position, and Grayson Byrd’s double to the left field wall drove him in.
-Byrd doubled Clemson’s lead in the frame, as he crossed home plate on Chad Fairey’s two-out single to center field.
-Will Wilson’s sac fly to center field put the Pack on the board in the third after Dillon Cooper led off the side with a single and stole second and third.
-Clemson extended its lead to two in the seventh. Greene reached on a 3-6 fielder’s choice following a leadoff single, stole second, then scored on Logan Davidson’s RBI single to right field.
-The Wolfpack responded with a pair of runs in the bottom frame to tie it up. Cooper brought in the first run with a bases-loaded groundout to first. With the bases loaded back up, a wild pitch moved the runners around the diamond.
-Just one batter reached base in each of the next four half innings, and in the 10th the Tigers plated what proved to be the game-winning run on Sam Hall’s single to left field.
Inside The Box Score
-Tyler McDonough went 2-for-5 on the day for his team-leading 24th multi-hit game of the year.
-Jonny Butler, Patrick Bailey, Lawson McArthur, David Vazquez and Cooper each contributed a hit in the team’s seven on the day.
On The Mound
-Starter Reid Johnston went 5.2 innings and exited with a career-high nine strikeouts.
-Kent Klyman was charged with the loss after going 2.2 innings and yielding the game-winning run.
On Deck
NC State will close out its home slate Sunday in its series finale with Clemson. The Pack will look to clinch the weekend with the Tigers at 1 p.m. at Doak Field at Dail Park, as there will be a live broadcast on the ACC Network Extra as well as a free audio stream on WKNC 88.1 FM.
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.
NC State won the first two games of the series, clinching their first series victory over rival #11 UNC since 2021, and the first one at home since 2016. The Wolfpack weren’t able to pull of the sweep this afternoon, losing the finale to the Tar Heels 3-14.
The NC State pitching staff didn’t have an answer for the UNC bats today. Starter Freshman Cooper Consiglio gave up 6 runs (5 earned) in 3.1 innings, striking out 4, and walking 4. The Wolfpack put 5 pitchers on the mound today, and every single one of them gave up runs. Sophomore Andrew Shaffner and Freshman Camden Wimbish both gave up 3 runs apiece.
Junior Jacob Cozart was the only bright spot in the Wolfpack’s offense today, hitting 2 solo Home Runs, marking only the 2nd time in his career that he has hit 2+ Home Runs in a single game.
Opposite-field jack for ‘Zart 💪 pic.twitter.com/ssPXqDAgww
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 20, 2024
The second-career multi-homer game for No. 14 💣 pic.twitter.com/Y2mnJHGkbi
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 20, 2024
The Wolfpack have two Top-10 series wins (Duke #9 and Clemson #2), and now another Top-15 series win (UNC #11).
Things don’t get any easier this Tuesday, playing #9 ECU on the road at 6pm. NC State should be ranked when they play the Pirates this week.
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