NC State baseball (11-8, 1-4 ACC) split its doubleheader with No. 8 Florida State (13-6, 4-2 ACC) on Sunday at Dick Howser Stadium, taking game two of the series, 15-4, and dropping the rubber match, 6-5, in 17 innings.
The rubber match was the longest game for NC State since June 9, 2013, when it defeated Rice, 5-4 (17 inn.), in the NCAA Super Regional to advance to the College World Series. Additionally, there were a combined 54 strikeouts in the game which set a NCAA record.
Game One RecapThe Wolfpack started the day riding an outstanding performance on the mound from starting pitcher
Matt Willadsen (1-1). The win was Willadsen's first of the year, as he allowed just five hits through six innings of work while striking out a season-high seven batters.
Willadsen was relieved in the seventh inning by
Baker Nelson, who proceeded to toss the final three frames of the contest. Nelson's efforts were enough to earn his first save of the year, striking out three and allowing one run over three innings.
A strong effort on the mound was complemented by seven extra-base hits, including a two-homer performance by
Tommy White. He currently ranks second in the NCAA with 11 home runs on the year.
The Pack broke the ice in the first inning when
Josh Hood doubled home
J.T. Jarrett to go ahead 1-0. White then gave NC State a 3-0 advantage with his first home run of the day in the third, which was followed by Florida State plating a run of its own on James Tibbs's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to get on the board.
The Wolfpack offense then found its groove in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, scoring three, five, and four runs, respectively.
Despite hitting just one ball out of the infield in the sixth NC State tacked on three runs on small ball offense to extend the lead to 6-1, but the Seminoles answered in the bottom half with a Brock Mathis two-run homer to make it 6-3.
In the seventh White hit his second home run of the day to add two more runs, and then RBI singles from
Devonte Brown and
Jacob Cozart and a passed ball extended the Pack's lead to 11-3.
Dominic Pilolli contributed a two-run home run of his own in the eighth, alongside a 2-RBI double from Brown that added to NC State's impressive performance in the batter's box.
Florida State salvaged a run in the ninth inning on a sac fly, but it wasn't enough to post a comeback as the Pack took game two of the series, 15-4.
Brown,
LuJames Groover III and Hood tallied a team-high three hits each, while White (4 RBI), Brown (3 RBI) and Pilolli (3 RBI) combined for 10 of the team's 14 runs batted in.
Game Two RecapGame three of the series was an exciting one, with the Wolfpack fighting back from a 3-0 deficit heading into the sixth inning to force extras.
After FSU plated three runs in the fifth on a Brett Roberts single and Wolfpack error with the bases loaded, NC State plated one run apiece in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to knot the game back up. The runs came on a sac fly from Hood in the sixth, an RBI single from
Payton Green in the seventh, and a solo home run from Hood in the eighth.
Brown sent a two-run shot over the right field wall in the 12th inning to put the Wolfpack ahead 5-3, but Florida State's Alex Toral answered with a two-run home run of his own in the bottom half to force a 13th frame.
The scoring was then halted until the 17th inning when the Seminoles' Jaime Ferrer homered to right field to clinch the series for Florida State in walk-off fashion.
The series finale was highlighted by standout efforts from
Logan Whitaker and
Chris Villaman on the mound. Whitaker started the game by allowing just one hit in 3.1 scoreless innings while Villaman scattered four hits and struck out 12 batters to match his career high over 5.0 hitless innings in relief.
Hood led the squad with a 4-for-6 outing with two runs batted in, while Groover and Green finished the nightcap with two hits apiece. Brown was also responsible for two RBIs in the contest.
The Wolfpack will be back in action at Doak Field at Dail Park Tuesday when it hosts NC A&T. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ACCNX with an audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network App.
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