Wolfpack Baseball Passes First Road Test
Behind a pair of Patrick Bailey home runs in the seventh and eighth innings, the eighth-ranked NC State baseball team (9-0) passed its first road test of the season as it took town Iowa 10-6, on Friday at the Cambria College Classic, hosted by Minnesota inside U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Leadoff batter Austin Murr had quite the homecoming as the Denmark Township, Minn., native sent the first pitch he saw of the day over the right field wall to put the Wolfpack up early.
-After three scoreless innings for both squads, State put up four runs on three hits to extend its lead to five. With the bases loaded and no outs, Vojtech Mensik and J.T. Jarrett drove in back-to-back runs via outfield singles.
-Following a force out at home, Murr walked in a run, then Tyler McDonough's groundout to second base brought the final run across.
-The Hawkeyes (3-4) avoided the shutout in the fifth inning. Peyton Williams and Zeb Adreon led off the frame with a double to right field and single to left center, then Sam Link's sac fly to center field brought the run in.
-In the seventh, Iowa managed to score four runs on as many hits and a Wolfpack error to knot the game at five. With runners at second and third, Dylan Nedved drove in the first run with a single to right field, then Link's RBI groundout to second and Justin Jenkins' double to right field brought in two more. Ben Norman's single to left center then leveled the score.
- Bailey answered in the bottom frame put the Wolfpack back in the lead as he belted a leadoff home run to right field.
-In the eighth, Bailey went yard for the second time in the game, but this time it was a grand slam to put the Pack up by five.
-Iowa tried to rally in the ninth as Adreon hit a leadoff double to right field, then scored on Nedved's single up the middle.
-With one out in the frame, Kent Klyman took over the mound and issued a walk to put two on base. He managed to produce a fly out and strikeout to end the threat.
QUICK HITS
-The result marked the fifth time this season the Pack has put up double digit runs, and just the second time this season it has allowed more than two runs to score in a single game.
-Starter Reid Johnston went a season-long five innings and struck out six batters.
-Freshman Sam Highfill (3-0) earned the win on the mound, throwing 1.2 innings and allowing just one run to score in the seventh.
-The pitching staff fanned a combined 11 batters, which was the sixth time this year it has tallied double-digit strikeouts.
-Bailey, the switch-hitting catcher, homered from the left and right side. It is the second time in his career he has done so and hit his second grand slam of the season.
-Bailey, Devonte Brown, McDonough and Murr extended their reached base streak to nine, while Brown also now owns a nine-game hit streak.
-Bailey, Jarrett, Murr and Mensik all tallied two hits apiece to contribute to the team's 10. The Pack has now collected double-digit hits in seven of its nine games this year.
UP NEXT
Saturday, Feb. 29 • vs. Purdue • 12 PM ET