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#21 NC State Shuts Out Elon 5-0

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5 years ago

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ELON, N.C. – In what appeared to be a pitcher’s duel and a low-scoring affair following five scoreless innings, the 21st-ranked NC State baseball team pushed across several runs late to earn a 5-0 shutout win at Elon Tuesday evening.

The Wolfpack plated the game’s first run in the sixth and then added four runs in its final two at-bats to come away with the shutout win. Four different pitchers combined for the shutout, as sophomore Evan Justice earned the win (1-0) with 2.1 innings of relief in his first appearance of the season.

Elon’s starter Jared Wetherbee was charged with the loss (0-1) and it was just the second of his career.

NC State moves to 4-0 on the year, handing Elon (3-1) its first loss of the season in the process. It was the Pack’s first road shutout since March 31, 2018, at Virginia Tech.

Avent’s Additions
“I’m awfully proud of our guys,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “They came over here in tough conditions, first game on the road and they were excited. This club likes to play and that’s a very, very good Elon team, maybe the best one I’ve seen in a long time.

“It was scoreless for the first five innings, but I felt like Elon had the advantage because they had us on the ropes, but we turned that situation into a 5-0 win. We made pitches and plays when we had to. I’m very proud of this ballclub.”

Quick Hits
– Elon threatened in the bottom of the third, as they loaded the bases with one out, but Baker Nelson entered the game and induced a foul out and a ground out to escape the jam.
– More impressively, the freshman battled out of a 3-0 hole to the first batter he faced to get the foul out and then made a great pitch to get the ground out to J.T. Jarrett at second base to end the inning.
– Will Wilson broke the scoreless tie with a solo homer in the sixth inning to give NC State a 1-0 lead, s the Wolfpack has scored first in every game this year.
– The junior drove the 1-2 pitch from Wetherbee over the left field wall for his second home run of the season. It was also the first homer that Wetherbee has allowed and just the second extra-base hit he has yielded in his career.
– NC State loaded the bases in the eighth and Evan Edwards made the Phoenix pay with a two-RBI double down the right field line.
– He later scored in the inning on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
– Vojtech Mensik walked to start the ninth, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout from Terrell Tatum and scored on a wild pitch to extend NC State’s lead to 5-0.
– Mathieu Gauthier pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth to secure the win.

On the Mound
– Junior Michael Bienlien started on the mound and pitched 2.1 innings with three strikeouts before handing the ball to Nelson.
– Nelson threw the next 2.1 innings with only one hit allowed with a pair of strikeouts.
– Justice was also great out of the bullpen, fanning three batters and Gauthier threw the final two innings yielding just one hit.

On Deck
NC State will return to action this weekend at the Baseball at the Beach Tournament, hosted by Coastal Carolina. The Wolfpack will take on Kent State in its first game of the weekend Friday afternoon at TicketReturn.Com Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

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NC State Baseball

#21 NC State Convincingly Wins Series Opener Against Ball State 10-2

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7 hours ago

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April 26, 2024

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#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.

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.

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NC State Baseball Bracketology Report Heading Into Series Against Ball State

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3 days ago

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April 24, 2024

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#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

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NC State Baseball

#21 NC State 6 #7 ECU 10: Box Score (with notes)

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3 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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#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’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.

NC State will look to flush this loss, and get ready for a 3-game series at home this weekend against Ball State.

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#21 NC State is Looking for Revenge Against #7 ECU

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4 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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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.

 

 

 

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