NC State baseball falls to ECU in offensive shootout

NC State baseball lost to the No. 12 East Carolina Pirates on Tuesday, April 4 by a score of 13-9.

After a slow start to the game, both teams began to find their groove behind the plate. Throughout much of the game, the Wolfpack (20-9) powered back to have a shot to win. However, the Pirates (21-8) pulled away as their batters continued to find success at the plate and their pitching finally found a way to contain the Pack.

Redshirt senior right-hander Baker Nelson made his first start of the season on the mound for the Pack. Over the first three innings, he found success as he tallied three strikeouts and only allowed one run. That run came off the bat of Josh Moylan in the first inning to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third, the Pack’s bats began to warm up by the time junior third baseman LuJames Groover stepped to the plate. With the bases loaded and no outs, he hit a sacrifice flyout, scoring junior left fielder Carter Trice to even the score at one run apiece. However, that was all the Wolfpack could muster as the next two batters were soon retired. In the top of the fourth, the Pack once again scored as Trice singled to bring home sophomore designated hitter Will Marcy, giving the Pack a 2-1 advantage.

In the bottom of the fourth, the game began to go in the wrong direction for Nelson and the Pack. Despite two quick outs to begin, ECU found its groove at the plate and started putting runners on base until a double drove in the first Pirate run of the inning. Keeping the momentum on their side, the Pirates singled to bring home a runner. As the frame dragged on for the Pack, ECU was not finished as Joey Berini stepped to the plate and crushed a three-run homer to extend the deficit to 6-2.

Despite facing towering odds heading into the fifth inning, the Pack did not back down. With two outs, the Pack got a pair of hits, and soon after, sophomore pinch hitter Chase Nixon singled, bringing Groover home. This sparked two more RBI singles as graduate center fielder Parker Nolan drove in one runner and freshman first baseman Eli Serrano drove in two more. NC State kept its foot on the gas as junior second baseman Kalae Harrison also singled to bring home another run, giving NC State a one-run lead at 7-6.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Pack sought to maintain the newly acquired lead, but this quickly evaporated as Jacob Jenkins-Cowart crushed a one-run homer to begin a career day. The sixth inning saw more offense from ECU as a groundout helped drive in a run, and Cowart returned to the plate to crush another homer, adding two runs to the ECU tally. This gave the Pirates a three-run lead as the score sat at 10-7.

Over the next two innings, ECU continued its relentless efforts in the batter’s box. In the eighth inning, Cowart came to the plate with two runners on base and proceeded to smoke an unbelievable third ball over the fence which gave ECU three more insurance runs. The score then stood at 13-7.

Despite facing a steep climb in the top of the ninth, the Pack was not going down without a fight. Even though the Pirates collected two quick outs, Nixon singled to delay the conclusion of the game. He was not alone as Nolan smacked a two-run homer to bring NC State back within four. However, this would be all as the Pack was not able to get anything else going for a final score of 13-9.

Despite three relatively efficient innings from the arm of Nelson, the fourth truly sparked the beginning of a troubling day on the mound for the Wolfpack. Over the next 4.1 innings, four pitchers were used in an attempt to quell the potent ECU batters. However, none were truly able to get established as they combined for allowing an additional seven runs while only striking out four batters.

The Pack will look to get back on track as it travels to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to take on No.2 Wake Forest on Friday, April 7. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.