Wolfpack softball drops first two games of series to No. 7 Clemson

After a series loss to the Syracuse Orange, NC State softball looked to bounce back in ACC play in a major way against the No. 7 Clemson Tigers. 

However, the Wolfpack (15-28, 5-12 ACC) couldn’t stop the top-ranked Tigers (40-4, 14-3 ACC), who beat the red-and-white on both Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15. 

Despite the formidable matchup against a team that ranks in the nation’s top-10 in both batting average and ERA, NC State got on the board first in the fourth inning of game one. After graduate center fielder Rebecca Murray doubled in the second at-bat of the frame, graduate left fielder Katlyn Pavlick hit an RBI single to put the Pack up 1-0.

Clemson is a strong pitching team, but Pavlick saw the ball well in the first two games of the series, going 2-4 in both games and earning an RBI in each as well. In general, Pavlick and the top of the order were generating offense and getting on base, but the Pack’s back half of the lineup generated very little over the course of the two games.

Like many other teams this year, the Wolfpack had no answers for Clemson star Valerie Cagle, who is one of the best players in the country and pitched for the Tigers in game one. After NC State got its first and only run of the game, Cagle quickly silenced the crowd with an RBI double to center field, which tied the game.

In the first game, the Pack hung around for as long as it could, getting outs when most needed as Clemson left 12 runners on base through seven innings. Up until this point, it had been a pitching battle between Cagle and NC State’s rotation with only two total runs scored. But in the top of the eighth, Clemson’s high-powered offense broke through, scoring three runs that the Wolfpack could not match and handing the red-and-white a loss in the first of a three-game series.

After a rain-out saw the end of the first game pushed to Saturday, the warmed-up offenses got on the board early in game two. In the top of the first, Clemson’s leadoff batter doubled down the left-field line, and Cagle homered soon after to put the Tigers up 2-0. NC State responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the first via an RBI double from Pavlick and an RBI single from freshman shortstop MaKayla Marbury.

Junior second baseman Kaylee Lambrecht went yard in the bottom of the fourth to put the Pack up 3-2. However, after the game had seemingly turned in the Pack’s favor, the momentum went back to the Tigers thanks to a three-run homer from Clemson’s Caroline Jacobsen in the top of the fifth. After the visitors regained the lead, pitcher Brooke McCubbin — who has the third-best ERA in the NCAA — shut out the Wolfpack in the final three innings while the Tiger offense added another run in the top of the seventh.

NC State out-hit the Tigers 10-8 in the second game, but it was the Pack’s turn to leave double-digit runners on base, stranding 10 in seven innings. The Wolfpack scored early but generated little offense in the latter half of the game. If NC State’s bottom of the order can figure out how to consistently get on base, this team can win big games against big opponents.

The third and final game of the series is Sunday, April 16 at 4 p.m. as the Pack will look to avoid getting swept.