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NC State Drops Conference Series With Sunday Loss

Florida State throttled the Wolfpack on Sunday, ultimately winning with a run rule.
Tucker Sennett|
First baseman Chris McHugh prepares to swing in NC State's 15-5 loss to Florida State on Sunday, March 22, 2026.
First baseman Chris McHugh prepares to swing in NC State's 15-5 loss to Florida State on Sunday, March 22, 2026. | Courtesy of NC State Athletic

No. 10 NC State suffered its second-straight loss at the hands of No. 11 Florida State on Sunday, this time in emphatic fashion. The Seminoles jumped all over the Wolfpack and right-handed pitcher Heath Andrews, ultimately knocking off the Pack with a run-rule victory, winning 15-5 in seven innings of play. That marked a series win for FSU and handed NC State its first of the season.

The loss made the Friday victory all the more important, as NC State's run through the ACC's top-tier competition continues for the next few weekends. A series loss to one of the stronger sides won't hurt the Wolfpack in the grand scheme of things, but it did offer the program more of a measuring stick of where it needs to get to before the postseason.

Wolfpack lineup and stats against No. 11 Florida State

  1. LF Rett Johnson: 0-3, R, 2 K
  2. 2B Luke Nixon: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, K
  3. DH Chris McHugh: 1-4, 2 RBI
  4. 1B Dalton Bargo: 1-3, RBI
  5. 3B Sherman Johnson: 2-2 -- PH/3B Wyatt Peifer: 1-1, BB
  6. CF Ty Head: 0-3, BB
  7. SS Mikey Ryan: 1-3, R, BB, K
  8. C Drew Lanphere: 0-2, R, BB
  9. RF Brayden Fraasman: 0-1, K -- PH/RF Andrew Wiggins: 1-2, R

RHP Heath Andrews: 1.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, BB, K, L (2-1)
LHP Cooper Consiglio: 3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
RHP Ryder Garino: IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB
RHP Aiden Kitchings: 0.1, 2 H

What went wrong?

After allowing two runs in the first inning, Andrews tried to settle in as he did in his last start, acting as the Wolfpack's stopper in a key Sunday spot. That success never came, as he found himself with runners on the corners in the very next inning with just one out. FSU's Kelvyn Paulino Jr. blasted his first home run of the season to right-center field, giving the Seminoles an early five-run lead that the Wolfpack never came back against.

By the end of the second inning, NC State trailed 7-0. With the large deficit in place, the Wolfpack bats mostly hibernated the remainder of the game, something that's plagued the team in large portions of the season thus far. Nixon was the lone standout, continuing a torrid stretch of hitting over the last two weeks. The Pack will try to shake off the run-rule loss and get a win over Campbell in Tuesday's midweek bout.

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Tucker Sennett
TUCKER SENNETT

Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.

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