NC State Baseball
No. 4 NC State Wins Fourth Straight; Turns Away James Madison, 6-4
RALEIGH, N.C. – With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, NC State’s Will Wilson came up big for the Wolfpack as he lined an RBI single to right center to give the squad a 6-4 lead and that proved to be the difference as the Pack defeated James Madison Tuesday evening at Doak Field at Dail Park.
The Wolfpack earns its fourth straight win after sweeping the weekend series against William & Mary. NCSU also improved to 10-1 on the year in midweek games.
NC State moves to 35-12 on the year, while James Madison falls to 21-24. Sophomore Kent Klyman earned the win to improve to 5-2 and Joe O’Donnell pitched the ninth to record his ninth save.
Avent’s Additions
Opening statement…
“”It was a tough game, they’re all tough at this point in the season,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “You have to really hand it to our guys, they’re tired. It has been a grinding season with all the injuries we’ve had, and it just seems like there’s no rest.”
“This time of the year you need everybody grinding and it’s going to take everything we’ve got. Tonight, I thought we started to play a little better. I thought we had the best at-bats that we’ve had in the past few weeks. We had some big time at-bats, got into some good counts and didn’t chase pitches out of the zone.”
Quick Hits
– NC State plated the game’s first run in the bottom of the first after a pair of two-out hits and a wild pitch, which allowed Patrick Bailey to score from third and give the Wolfpack a 1-0 lead.
– James Madison knotted the score at one in the second after a sacrifice fly from Michael Morgan.
– Bailey led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run to right center, as he recorded his 10th homer of the year, just two shy of the NC State freshman record held by Colt Morton (12).
– The Wolfpack now has five players with 10 or more homers and is the only team in the ACC to accomplish the feat.
– JMU pulled ahead 4-2 with three runs in the top of the fifth, but the lead was short-lived as NCSU countered in the bottom half to even the score at four apiece.
– Wilson doubled to lead off the inning and two batters later Brett Kinneman belted his 14th homer of the season, which ties the ACC lead for home runs by an individual.
– After both teams were held scoreless in the sixth and seventh, Terrell Tatum led off the eighth for the Wolfpack with a great at-bat and drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch.
– A sac bunt moved him into scoring position before Stephen Pitarra walked to put runners at first and second.
– Following a groundout to advance the runners to second and third, Wilson ripped the first pitch of his at-bat for a two-RBI single to right center.
– The Dukes threatened in the ninth, but freshman J.T. Jarrett gloved a ground ball to second base, stepped on it and fired to first for the double play to end the game.
Inside the Box Score
– Wilson led the Wolfpack at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance, headlined by two RBI and two runs scored.
– Bailey also turned in a three-hit outing for the third time in his career, while Evan Edwards, Jarrett, Kinneman, McLain each had one hit.
– McLain’s hit extended his reached base safely streak to 15 games.
On the Mound
– Freshman Evan Justice made his second career start and pitched 4.1 innings, yielding three earned runs while striking out four batters.
– Nolan Clenney relieved him and threw 2.2 innings before handing the ball to Klyman, who tossed a shutout inning to earn the win.
– O’Donnell pitched around a walk in the ninth to secure his ninth save, which is third most in the conference.
On Deck
NC State returns to action Wednesday afternoon for a rematch with the James Madison Dukes. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. at Doak Field.
#20 NC State will head down to Tallahassee tomorrow for a 3-game series against #7 FSU. Before they do, here’s a look at where NC State is projected to land in the 2024 NCAA Tournament as things currently stand.
Last week, both D1Baseball and Baseball America projected the Wolfpack to play as a #2 seed in the Greenville Regional (ECU), with the former projecting the Pirates to be a #6 seed, and the latter projecting them to be a #8 seed.
This week, D1Baseball has NC State as a #2 seed in the Lexington Regional, with Kentucky as a #5 seed. Baseball America still has the Wolfpack as a #2 seed in the Greenville Region, with the Pirates still sitting as a #8 seed.
D1Baseball
Baseball America
#20 NC State lost to UNC-Wilmington 4-5 this evening at home, losing their 5th straight midweek game. The Wolfpack were swept by the Seahawks this year, ironically losing 4-5 down in Wilmington on April 9th.
Freshman Ryan Marohn got the starting nod, and he was excellent, giving up 1 earned run in 5 innings pitched, striking out 7. It was arguably his best start since his collegiate debut against VCU in the opening series.
Sophomore Shane Van Dam was Mr. Reliable through much of the season, but he hasn’t had his best stuff as of late. This evening, he faced four batters, hitting 2, walking another, and surrendering a hit to the other. Van Dam failed to record an out, and gave up 3 earned runs. Heading into the UNC game back on April 18th, Van Dam had a 2.63 ERA. After the past 4 appearances, his ERA has shot up to 3.96.
Freshman Jacob Dudan settled things down, pitching 4 scoreless innings, giving up only 1 hit, while striking out 5.
Unfortunately, Sophomore Derrick Smith allowed the Seahawks to score a run in the Top of the 10th, which was enough for the opposing team to leave Raleigh with a win, with NC State failing to score a run in the final 5 frames.
Junior Jacob Cozart continues an insane power surge, hitting two more Home Runs tonight. Cozart has hit 7 Home Runs in the past 6 games.
*Scheduled tweet* pic.twitter.com/eHvyuGT6so
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 30, 2024
SCOREBOARD SHOT 🚀 pic.twitter.com/tMvY8imzgG
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 30, 2024
Cozart now has 14 Home Runs on the year. His previous career high was 11.
Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington also hit a Solo Home Run, his 11th bomb of the year.
Goodbye Baseball ✌️#Pack9 | @Garrettpenn14 pic.twitter.com/p0tySYt3aF
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 30, 2024
On Friday, the Wolfpack will head down to Tallahassee for a 3-game series against #7 Florida State.
After sweeping Ball State this past weekend, NC State jumped up in almost all of the Top-25 polls.
Baseball America – 13th (+4)
RPI – 20th (+9)
D1Baseball – 20th (+1)
USAToday Coaches Poll – 20th (+3)
Perfect Game – 25th (-)
