NC State bats couldn’t get going on Tuesday, with the end result being a shutout at the hands of Elon by a final score of 2-0. Not the confidence booster the Wolfpack needed heading into conference play this coming weekend.
Both teams managed a meager four hits on the day, and while Phoenix batters struck out almost twice as much (9 to 5), the difference in the game was free passes (5 walks issued by State pitchers, 1 by Elon; 1 wild pitch from State, 0 from Elon; 1 error from State, 0 from Elon).
Add to that a more aggressive approach on the bases by the Phoenix (4-for-5 stolen bases, State was 1-for-2 (the scorebook says 0-for-1, but it was really 1-for-2)).
Elon’s Jackson Alford (2-for-3, 2 R, BB, 3-3 SB) was the difference maker the in game, scoring the game’s only two runs and being a constant source of havoc when at the dish and on the bases. He was also the only player for either team to manage multiple hits.
Meanwhile, Owen Winebarger (6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K) put together the best outing of his career for the Phoenix, setting a career-high in innings and tying his career-best mark in strikeouts.
State’s hitters were under the ball all game against Winebarger, providing a disproportionate number of fly outs (10) versus groundouts (4). There were a few close calls here and there, but the Pack bats just couldn’t make the adjustments against the sophomore to truly threaten. Once Elon went to the bullpen, State began rolling over everything, grounding out five times over the last 2.2 innings.
No State batter reached base safely multiple times in the game, which is no way to score runs.
So it goes. Hopefully the team can make adjustments from here, but they’ll need to learn how to generate runs when the other team isn’t handing out freebies.
