NC State drops seesaw affair

NC State loses the second game of a doubleheader and the series to UNC on Sunday.

In the rubber game the Heels once again got out front early thanks to Vance Honeycutt’s two-run home run to left field in the first inning, but the Pack tied things right up thanks to solo home runs on back-to-back pitches by Brown and Groover. It was Brown’s 11th of the year and Groover’s seventh of the season.

Payton Green put the Pack ahead 4-2 in the second with a two-run home run to left field after Soles doubled to right field in the previous at bat. It was Green’s sixth of the season and the squad’s third of the game.

North Carolina managed to knot the score back up at 4-4 in the third on a Vance Honeycutt sac fly to right field followed by a Hunter Stokely RBI double to right center after Horvath and Serretti doubled and singled, in respective order, to put runners at the corners.

After a scoreless fourth and fifth by both squads, UNC plated the go-ahead run to make it 5-4 in the sixth thanks to a Wolfpack error with a runner at third, but the Pack answered in the bottom frame when Cozart delivered with a two-run single to score J.T. Jarrett and Soles after a pair of singles and a fly out put them in scoring position to put NC State ahead, 6-5.

The Heels struck again in the eighth inning when Alberto Osuna hit what proved to be the game-winning run, a two-run homer to left field, to take a 7-6 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth the Pack managed to put the game-tying run on base when Brown drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position on a passed ball, but three strikeouts ended the ball game.

Starting pitcher Canaan Silver tossed 6.1 innings and tallied a career-high eight strikeouts. Offensively, Soles, Green and Cozart each went 2-for-4 at the plate while Green and Cozart drove in a team-best two RBIs a piece.

On Deck

NC State will begin a four-game road swing Tuesday when it travels to UNCW for its penultimate midweek matchup of the season. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C., and the game will be broadcast on FloSports ($). There will additionally be an audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network App.