NC State and UNCW had a back-and-forth game on Tuesday night in Raleigh, with the Wolfpack pulling away in the 6th inning and getting some late shutdown innings from the bullpen. Ultimately, State captured the 7-4 win over the Seahawks to improve to 22-11 on the year and run their win streak to four games. UNCW dropped to 19-13 with the loss.
The Seahawks plated a run in the top of the 1st inning, but Wolfpack starter Luke Hemric managed to escape without further damage despite the Seahawks loading
the bases with just a one out. Hemric set down UNCW in order in the 2nd inning, his final frame of the game.
Meanwhile, State put two on with one out in the 1st, but Luke Nixon ran into an out at third base after oversliding the bag to help put an end to that inning. The Pack put another pair of runners on the bases in the 2nd inning, but was also unable to push across a run there.
Sam Harris kept the Seahawks off the board in the 3rd with the help of an excellent Rett Johnson to Luke Nixon to Vincent DeCarlo relay to nail the final out at the plate and keep it a 1-0 ballgame.
Rett led off the bottom half of the 3rd with a bunt single, but State was again unable to score a run in the inning.
UNCW had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out in the 4th, but Harris was able to buckle down and strike out the last two hitters of the inning to keep the Seahawks off the board. That was a big momentum shift in the game for the Pack, and the lineup used it well.
On a 1-2 count with one out in the bottom of the 4th, Sherman Johnson deposited a ball into the visitors bullpen to tie the game.
In the same count in the next at-bat, Ty Head went back-to-back with Sherman and notched his 10th homer of the year, giving State a 2-1 lead.
Trevor Lucas doubled home a run for UNCW in the 5th off Harris, tying the game at 2. Aiden Kitchings came on to record the final out of the inning via strikeout and strand Lucas at 2nd base.
State had a quick reply in the bottom half of the 5th. Rett lead off with an infield single and advanced to second on a Chris McHugh hit-by-pitch. Brayden Fraasman then pulled a single down the third base line to plate Rett and put the Pack back in front, 3-2.
State would go on to load the bases with one out in the inning, but Sherman hit a tailor-made double play ball to third base to end the opportunity.
UNCW catcher Josh Martinez hit a two-out, two-run bomb off Kitchings in the top of the 6th to give the Seahawks their second lead of the game at 4-3. Thankfully, State again had a reply in the bottom half of the same inning. Head led off with a walk, moving all the way to 3rd base on a throwing error from pitcher Francesco Capocci on a pickoff attempt. DeCarlo was hit by a pitch, and after a pitching change to bring on Clay Masonis, advanced to second on a wild pitch that scored Head to tie the game. Rett walked with one out, and another out later McHugh and Fraasman would both come through huge for the Pack.
Sherman would add the final run of the game in the 7th, launching a no-doubter on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, quite possibly his best at-bat of the year.
With the Pack back in front, the trio of Ryder Garino, Anderson Nance, and Cooper Consiglio pitched the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, respectively, never allowing the Seahawks to threaten. Each pitcher faced just three UNCW hitters in their frames, with all three recording a strikeout each.
Despite being the only Pack pitcher to allow multiple runs in the game, Kitchings picked up his first win in the game. Consiglio picked up the save, his third of the year.
Sherman Johnson (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB) was obviously the star of the game, while Rett Johnson (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB) and Fraasman (2-for-5, 2 RBI) joined him with multiple-hit games. Head (1-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB), Nixon (0-for-3, 2 BB, 0-1 SB), McHugh (1-for-3, RBI, 2 HBP), and DeCarlo (0-for-2, R, BB, HBP) also reached base safely multiple times.
NC State moved up a couple spots to #51 in the RPI with the win and will be back in action this weekend hosting ACC foe Duke for a three-game series. First pitch Friday is set for 3:00pm.
