NC State Athletics
State thwarts Pirate attack
RALEIGH - NC State Baseball (26-13) got back in the win column on Tuesday night with a 12-3 win over East Carolina (24-18) at Doak Field at Dail Park.
The Wolfpack tallied 13 hits in the contest, highlighted by three-hit outings from Devonte Brown and Tommy White and a grand slam by Josh Hood, who turned in a career-high five runs batted in.
With the victory, the Pack completed the home-and-home series sweep over the Pirates as it traveled to Greenville, N.C., earlier this season and earned a 2-0 shutout win.
The Pirates got started quickly in the first, scoring the first run of the night on a Cam Clonch RBI single after a pair of walks and an outfield single loaded the bases up with one out.
NC State didn’t wait long to respond though, posting four runs on as many hits to take a 4-1 lead in the bottom frame. Brown led off with his 10th home run of the season, going deep off of the first pitch thrown to him to knot the score at 1-1.
It marked Brown’s fifth straight game that he has led off with a hit, including his second straight with a home run on the first pitch he saw.
After LuJames Groover III’s double and White’s single to the left side of the diamond put runners at the corners, Josh Hood’s sac fly drove in the go-ahead run. Noah Soles’ double to left field followed by J.T. Jarrett’s RBI groundout scored White to make it 3-1. Then after Dominic Pilolli drew a two-out walk, he and Jarrett pulled off the double steal to bring the fourth run of the frame across.
White tallied his second hit of the night in the second inning, driving in Jacob Cozart, who reached on a bunt single, and Brown, who laced a single to center field for his second hit of the contest, after the pair got into scoring position on a wild pitch.
East Carolina cut into its deficit in the third on Josh Moylan’s sac fly to left field with runners at the corners, and then tacked on another run in the sixth thanks to a Zach Agnos leadoff homer to center field, making it 6-3.
Tommy White belted his 19th home run of the season to center field to lead off the seventh inning, giving NC State a 7-3 lead. It was his fifth home run in six games and he now ranks T8th in program history with Colt Morton, Brad Piercy, and Jeff Pierce for the most in a single season.
Additionally, White’s 19 are the most by an NC State player since 2003 when Morton hit 19.
The Wolfpack added five more runs off three hits in the eighth, extending the lead to 12-3. A RBI fielder’s choice by Cozart with runners at the corners after Pilolli drew a leadoff walk and Payton Green laced an outfield single with runners plated the first run. Following Groover’s single and an intentional walk of White, Hood launched a two-out grand slam over the left field wall to cap off the Pack’s hot bats.
Baker Nelson was credited with the win after tossing 2.0 innings in relief, fanning a career-high five batters as he allowed just one hit, one walk and surrendered one run. Justin Lawson and Chris Villaman combined for the final three innings of the contest and did not allow a run to score.
In addition to Brown, Hood and White’s solid nights at the plate, Groover and Soles both went 2-for-5.
NC State will continue its seven-game home stand this weekend when it welcomes Radford to Doak Field at Dail Park for a three-game nonconference series. The teams will play Friday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ACCNX and there will be an audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network App.