Pack rallies past Duke in series opener
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Durham, NC -- NC State used a four-run rally in the seventh inning, solid starting pitching and terrific relief work to knock off Duke, 5-3, at Jack Coombs Field on Friday afternoon.
The Wolfpack improves to 31-16 overall, 13-11 in ACC play with the victory. The loss drops Duke to 20-28 on the campaign and 9-16 in the conference.
It was a rematch of the title game of last season's ACC Baseball Championships, when Duke edged NCSU, 1-0, in Charlotte to claim the league crown.
NC State struck first when Devonte Brown doubled on the first pitch of the game and LuJames Groover III followed it up with a single through the middle two pitches later to bring Brown home.
Duke answered with two runs in the bottom of the third on a pair of RBI singles. The Blue Devils added another run in its half of the sixth.
Trailing 3-1 entering the top of the seventh, NC State responded.
J.T. Jarrett started things by lacing a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a single. Dominic Pilolli smashed the next offering from Duke starter Marcus Johnson (1-7) to the wall in right for a double. Payton Green then walked to load the bases and that chased Johnson from the contest.
Jimmy Loper replaced Johnson and the senior righty yielded a two-run double to Jacob Cozart that tied the game. Brown then smacked a 1-1 pitch to center that scored Green to hand NC State the lead for good.
Groover grounded into a double play, but Cozart scored to give the Pack a two-run cushion.
Chris Villaman took it from there. The sophomore lefty pitched three innings and allowed only one hit while striking out five in relief of Logan Whitaker. It was Villaman's ninth save of the season.
Whitaker, who tossed six innings of work and allowed three runs on nine hits while fanning eight and walking one, was the winning pitcher for NC State and improved to 2-2 on the campaign.
The two teams will return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when the Wolfpack sends Matt Willadsen to the mound in search of a series victory.
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A lifelong native of the Triangle area in North Carolina, Rob McLamb has covered NC State Athletics since 2010, as well as writing about each of the five major sports leagues in North America (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS) for various newspapers and outlets. As a journalist who has also served as a high school and college coach, McLamb provides an educated, unfiltered, and analytical perspective on the Wolfpack and the ACC.