Pack falls at UNCW

In a seesaw affair, NC State saw its 10-game winning streak against non-conference foes snapped in Wilmington.

WILMINGTON, N.C. – In a back-and-forth slugfest that featured a combined 23 hits and 24 runs, NC State baseball (30-16) was outlasted by UNCW (26-21), 13-11, on Tuesday night at Brooks Field.

Despite scoring five runs to start the game, the Seahawks plated 10 unanswered runs across the first three innings. The Wolfpack managed to score five more runs in the fourth to tie the game, but UNCW ultimately pushed across two late runs in the eighth to come away with the victory.

With the result, the teams split this year’s home-and-home series after the Pack earned a 7-6 comeback victory in Raleigh on April 12. Additionally, the loss snapped a nine-game win streak for the Pack over the Seahawks.

The Pack got off to a fast start when Devonte Brown and Tommy White led off with back-to-back homers. It was Brown’s fifth time this season leading off with a homer and 12th of the season, and for White it was his 21st of the season.

White is now one home run away from the ACC freshman home run record (22), four away from the NC State single season record (25) and five away from the NCAA freshman record (26).

J.T. Jarrett and Jacob Cozart drove in three more runs in the frame to extend the Pack’s lead to 5-0. Jarrett tallied an RBI double with a hard-hit ball off UNCW pitcher Marty Gair’s leg after Noah Soles and Will Marcy drew back-to-back walks, and then after Chase Nixon walked to load the bases Cozart delivered with a two-run single through the right side.

The Seahawks cut into their deficit in the bottom of the first when Brooks Baldwin hit a leadoff homer, and then plated three runs in the second thanks to an RBI double by Dillon Lifrieri and a two-run homer by Chris Thorburn in consecutive at bats to make it a one-run game at 5-4.

UNCW pushed six more unanswered runs across in the third inning, taking a 10-5 lead. After three consecutive walks loaded the bases, Ron Evans laced a 2-RBI single through the left side to plate the go-ahead run, and then a sac fly from Baldwin and three-run homer by Taber Mongero scored the remaining runs in the frame.

In the fourth the Pack put up five more runs to knot the score at 10-10. With the bases loaded Jarrett drove in the first run with a sac fly to left field, and then after Nixon reached on an outfield single to reload the bases Payton Green came through with a 2-RBI double off the left field wall to make it 10-8. A sac fly from Brown to right field after Cozart drew a walk to load the bases back up made it a one-run game, and then White delivered the game-tying run with an RBI double off the left field wall.

The Seahawks once again answered in the home half of the fourth when an RBI fielder’s choice by Lifrieri put his team back on top, but Cozart tied the game back up at 11-11 with his fourth home run of the season in the sixth inning, a solo shot to right field.

After a scoreless seventh by both teams, UNCW broke the tie with a pair of runs to take a 13-11 lead. Mongero’s base hit and a Wolfpack error scored Baldwin for what proved to be the game-winning run after he reached on a walk, and then Ethan Baucom added an insurance run when he drove in Mongero with a double down the left field line.

The Pack attempted to rally back in the ninth when Cozart reached on a hit-by-pitch to start the inning, but three consecutive outs ended the game.

Cozart led the offense with a 3-for-3 outing with three runs batted in to match his career high. Additionally, Brown and White each tallied two hits and two RBIs, while Jarrett and Green drove in two runs apiece.

On the mound, Garrett Payne matched his career high in strikeouts with six in 4.2 innings of relief.

NC State will remain on the road this weekend when it makes the short trip to Duke for its second Tobacco Road series of the season. The teams will play Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jack Coombs Field. Friday’s game will be on ACCNX while the final two games will be on Regional Sports Networks (RSN). All three games will have a radio broadcast on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network App.