NC State took the first two games of the series with Duke in Raleigh this weekend before dropping the series finale. The Wolfpack are now 5-1 in their last six ACC games and sit at 8-7 at the midway point of conference play, tied for 6th in the league with Miami. With an RPI ranking of 61, there’s still work to do for the Wolfpack in terms of their NCAA Regional resume.
The Friday and Saturday games followed similar scripts with Duke taking an early 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st in both games, and then
the Wolfpack bats knocking the Blue Devils starting pitcher out of the game by the 3rd inning. State pounded out 7 runs across the 2nd and 3rd innings on Friday, chasing Duke ace Aidan Weaver in the 3rd inning, and cruising to a 10-4 good-buddy win. The Pack scored 11 runs over the first three frames against Duke on Saturday, ending that game in the 7th in a mercy-rule aided 18-5 victory.
Ryan Marohn (5.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 9 K) earned the win on Friday to improve to 6-1 on the year. Walks have been a bit of an issue for Marohn this year (career-high 11.9%) as he’s lived on the edges of the zone more than in years past. He’s also been outstanding at missing bats (career-high 33.5 K%). Anderson Nance (3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K) finished off the Blue Devils for his 3rd save of the year, striking out eight of the 14 hitters he faced.
Mikey Ryan (3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI) had a huge game at the plate while batting out of the 9-hole. Chris McHugh (2-for-5, R, 1-1 SB) and Drew Lanphere (2-for-3, R, RBI, BB) also had multiple hits on Friday. Luke Nixon (1-for-3, 2B, R, RBI, 2 BB), Ty Head (1-for-3, R, 2 BB, 1-1 SB), and Sherman Johnson (1-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, HBP) also reached base safely multiple times in the game.
Heath Andrews (6.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) earned the win on Saturday to improve to 3-1 on the year. He struggled across the first two innings before settling in to retire 15 consecutive batters between the final out of the 2nd inning and issuing a two-out walk in the 7th. Sam Harris came on to record the final out of the game on four pitches.
State’s lineup pounded out 15 hits on Saturday, with Rett Johnson (4-for-4, 4 R, 2 RBI, SF, 1-1 SB), Luke Nixon (3-for-4, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB), Mikey Ryan (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), and Brayden Fraasman (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1-1 SB) all tallying multi-hit games. McHugh (1-for-2, R, RBI, BB, HBP), Head (0-for-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, 2-2 SB), and Lanphere (1-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB) each reached base safely multiple times. Andrew Wiggins had a pinch-hit 3-run home run in the game.
Sunday started the same way as the first two games with Duke going up 1-0 in the 1st. The Blue Devils scratched that run on a failed pickoff attempt at 2nd base with no outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd base. Wolfpack starter Cooper Consiglio settled down from there to retire the next three hitters in order. He made a mistake with two outs in the 2nd innings, giving Adin Zorn a first pitch of the at-bat that Zorn launched over the center field wall for a 2-0 Duke lead.
Aside from the error and that one pitch, Consiglio (6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HBP) was nails in this one, and had the best start of the weekend for the Pack. Unfortunately, the Pack offense just couldn’t muster much of anything. There was a lot of solid contact off Duke starter Andy Leon (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP), but the Blue Devils defense – which was suspect over the first two games of the series – made several outstanding plays to keep the Pack off the bases and off the scoreboard.
NC State did manage to plate runs in both the 6th and 8th innings, with McHugh doubling home Rett Johnson in both frames, to tie the game at 2-2 going into the 9th inning. Ryder Garino (2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) made one mistake in an otherwise excellent outing, giving Kaden Smith a pitch he was looking for on a 3-1 count to lead off the 9th inning. Smith crushed that ball off the flag pole behind the visitor bullpen to put Duke up 3-2. Collins Black (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) retired the final two Blue Devils batters of the inning.
Mikey Ryan led off the bottom of the 9th with a single and advanced to 2nd base with one out and to 3rd base with two outs, but a pair of strikeouts left both the tying and winning runs in scoring position.
State’s offense on the day was basically just three players: McHugh (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Ryan (2-for-4, 1-1 SB), and Rett Johnson (1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 1-1 SB). Head (BB), Dalton Bargo (BB), and Sherman Johnson (HBP) were the only other Pack hitters to reach base in the game, although State had a much better day at the plate than the stats would lead you to believe. Such is baseball.
The Wolfpack head to East Carolina on Tuesday to take on a Pirates squad that ranks 36th in RPI. This will be the first game in a seven-game road trip, with State heading to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest next weekend. With the Demon Deacons ranking 25th in RPI and checking in a 9-9 in ACC play, this will be a big next four games for the Pack’s NCAA Regional bid resume.
