NC State Baseball
Fourth-Ranked NC State Baseball Defeats Wake Forest to Complete Sweep
RALEIGH, N.C. – The fourth-ranked NC State baseball team completed the series sweep against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons with a 10-6 win Sunday afternoon on Senior Day at Doak Field at Dail Park. The Wolfpack has won eight consecutive games to record its fourth weekend sweep of the season and second in ACC play.
NC State gained control of the game with six unanswered runs after trailing 5-4 heading to the bottom of the sixth. The Pack scored three in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth to pull ahead and secure the win.
The Wolfpack moves to 39-12 on the year and 18-9 in ACC play, while Wake Forest falls to 22-29 and 11-16 in conference action. Redshirt freshman Connor Centala earned his first collegiate win in the contest with an inning of shutout relief, while Wake’s Tyler Witt was hit with the loss.
Kent Klyman threw the final three innings for the Pack and registered his fourth save.
Avent’s Additions
Overall thoughts…
“I’m just really proud of our guys,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “They’ve gone through a lot; this season has been tough. It’s a tough transition from two intense night games with great crowds to a day game. Today felt like New Mexico to me, I do not know what it felt like to them.
“We just got behind again and I’m really proud of their effort. We were thin in pitching and I thought Centala [Connor] came in and pitched a really good inning for us. I just think we’re playing very well right now.”
On completing the sweep on Senior Day…
“Senior Day is special and everybody talks about that. It is about Senior Day, but it’s also about winning and getting better. If it hadn’t had been Senior Day, it would have been just as big but I’m sure looking back on it they will remember this win on Senior Day.”
Quick Hits
– NC State struck early in the contest, as a double from Brett Kinneman in the bottom of the first pushed across the first runs of the game as the Wolfpack took a 2-0 lead.
– Wake Forest countered with a pair of runs in the top of the second to knot the score at two apiece after an RBI groundout and an RBI single.
– Evan Edwards led off the bottom half of the inning with a walk and scored on a double to left center by Stephen Pitarra, as the Wolfpack answered quickly to regain the lead 3-2.
– The Demon Deacons pulled ahead, 5-3, with three runs in the third following a wild pitch and a two-run homer from Cole McNamee.
– Will Wilson started the bottom of the frame with a double to right center and scored on an RBI groundout from Kinneman to narrow the margin to 5-4.
– After both teams were held scoreless in the fourth and fifth, Josh McLain hit a two-RBI triple to left center to give NC State a 6-5 lead after Devonte Brown and J.T. Jarrett walked and singled earlier in the frame.
– Wilson followed with a single through the left side to score McLain, as the Wolfpack scored all three runs in the frame with two outs.
– Edwards scored the eighth run of the game for NC State on a safety squeeze from Jarrett, as he was called out initially but was ruled safe after review.
– McLain’s sacrifice fly extended the Pack’s advantage to 9-5 with Brown scoring from third.
– Patrick Bailey walked and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches to push across the 10thrun of the day for NC State.
– Wake Forest got a run back in the ninth on a solo homer from Michael Ludowig, but Klyman rebounded to retire the next three batters to get the save.
Inside the Box Score
– Wilson led the Wolfpack at the plate and was the only player in the game to record three hits to go along with an RBI and a run scored.
– Pitarra also turned in a multi-hit performance, as he doubled twice in the contest and scored a run, while driving in another.
– NC State scored 10 or more runs for the 12thtime this season.
– The Wolfpack is also 29-3 on the year when scoring at least six runs.
On the Mound
– Freshman Evan Justice made his first ACC start of his collegiate career and went 1.2 innings.
– Michael Bienlien turned in a strong relief appearance with three innings pitched, yielding one earned run with three strikeouts.
– Centala inherited a runner on first in the sixth and forced a double play and then a groundout to end the inning.
– Klyman closed out the game, pitching the final three innings and he fanned four batters.
– The Wolfpack pitching staff struck out seven batters and walked just one.
On Deck
NC State returns to action in its final regular-season series, as the Wolfpack travels to Tallahassee for a matchup with Florida State. First pitch of Thursday and Friday’s games is at 6 p.m., while Saturday’s series finale is set for 1 p.m.
#21 NC State convincingly defeated Ball State 10-2 in the series opener in Raleigh this evening.
Senior Sam Highfill pitched a Quality Start against the Cardinals, giving up 2 earned runs in 6 innings, while striking out 6. The Quality Start was Highfill’s 3rd of the season, and his record on the year is now 4-1.
Freshman Ryan Marohn was brilliant in relief, pitching 3 scoreless innings, giving up only 1 hit, while striking out 3. Marohn picked up his 1st Save of his collegiate career.
Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz was the Wolfpack’s Offensive MVP, going 2 for 4, with a Grand Slam.
17 homers, 55 RBI and another GRAND SLAM for A-Mak 💣#Pack9 | @Alec_mak99 pic.twitter.com/fTBCrh5afv
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 26, 2024
Makarewica now has 17 Home Runs and 55 RBI’s.
Sophomore Right Fielder Josh Hogue, Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart, Junior Left Fielder Chase Nixon, Freshman 2nd Baseman Luke Nixon and Sophomore Matt Heavner all had an RBI apiece.
Junior Shortstop Brandon Butterworth was the only player besides A-Mak to have multiple hits, going 2 for 4 with a Double.
Game 2 is tomorrow at 3pm.
#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.