#19 NC State Falls 1-11 in Series Opener vs. Louisville in Absence of Highfill

#19 NC State was without their Friday starter this evening in the series opener against Louisville on the road. Senior Sam Highfill was a late scratch due to illness. As a result, it turned into a bullpen game, and that wasn’t a concoction for victory for the Wolfpack.

Within 2 innings, the Cardinals were up 6-0. Freshman Heath Andrews gave up 4 runs in 1 inning, and Freshman Cooper Consiglio gave up 2 in 2.2 innings. Later in the game, Senior P.J. Labriola surrendered 3 runs, failing to record an out.

After 7 innings, Louisville was up 11-1 (they scored 5 in the bottom of the 7th), and the game was called due to mercy rule.

It wasn’t strictly the Wolfpack pitchers that struggled. The NC State bats couldn’t get anything going either, recording only 3 hits in 7 innings.

The Wolfpack’s only extra-base hit, and RBI, was via the bat of Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington, who hit a solo shot in the 4th inning. The bomb was Pennington’s 8th of the year.

NC State is now 8-5 in ACC play, ranking 2nd in the conference.

The Wolfpack will look to even the series with the Cardinals tomorrow at 1pm.