End 5
VCU 1
NC State 5

End 6
VCU 1
NC State 5

End 7
VCU 1
NC State 5

End 8
VCU 1
NC State 6

Wolfpack wins 6-1

1-0!

Big fly from No. 14 💪 pic.twitter.com/AjAdmw3FgE

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) February 16, 2024

How good is VCU? Haven't they been pretty good recently?

FlockaWolf said:

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How good is VCU? Haven't they been pretty good recently?

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tourney team 2 years ago. not great last year. preseason 5th in the A10 this year

FlockaWolf said:

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How good is VCU? Haven't they been pretty good recently?

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Depending on who you look at, they're either predicted to finish fifth or sixth in their conference. Eike, I believe, is the Preseason A-10 Player of the Year, but their head coach is just in his second year with the program.

Everyone had a hit(13) or rbi. That is a good start. Only 3 hits given up

Sending #WPN home with a W 👏 pic.twitter.com/sMmOvmG7c4

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) February 16, 2024

wilmwolf said:

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pack2010 said:

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wilmwolf said:

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I must've missed Highfill being hyped somewhere. He's a proven high level pitcher. Doesn't mean he'll have it every day. Doesn't even mean he'll be the Friday starter all year.

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aaron fitt at d1 said he looked as good as he has seen in a couple years this fall.

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Ok. That doesn't qualify as hype to me.

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Nothing but positive about him all fall and saying he's as healthy as he has been since he helped lead us to Omaha. And he's the opening day starter. I'd argue that's the definition of hype lol. Good win today!

tau06 said:

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wilmwolf said:

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pack2010 said:

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wilmwolf said:

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I must've missed Highfill being hyped somewhere. He's a proven high level pitcher. Doesn't mean he'll have it every day. Doesn't even mean he'll be the Friday starter all year.

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aaron fitt at d1 said he looked as good as he has seen in a couple years this fall.

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Ok. That doesn't qualify as hype to me.

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Nothing but positive about him all fall and saying he's as healthy as he has been since he helped lead us to Omaha. And he's the opening day starter. I'd argue that's the definition of hype lol. Good win today!

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I've already offered my definition of hype later in the discussion. Expecting Sam to be what we've already seen him to be doesn't qualify to me. Regardless, he had a good outing and having him as a big part of our rotation will bode well for us.

The No. 13 NC State baseball team notched its eighth straight Opening Day victory with a 6-1 win over VCU on Friday afternoon at Doak Field at Dail Park.

After VCU (0-1) struck first with a run in the opening frame, the Wolfpack (1-0) scored the game's final six runs to notch head coach Elliott Avent's 999th win at NC State.

Freshman Alex Sosa tied the score with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third, scoring Jacob Cozart from third base to make it 1-1. Sosa's base hit marked both his first hit and RBI in an NC State uniform.

The Wolfpack took its first lead with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Matt Heavner, who smacked his first-career home run in the Pack's final home game of the 2023 season, delivered NC State's first homer of 2024 with a solo shot to open the fourth. Garrett Pennington, Cozart and Alec Makarewicz all recorded RBI in the frame to expand the Pack's advantage to 5-1.

Wolfpack starting pitcher Sam Highfill settled in after allowing a run in the first, tossing four straight scoreless frames to earn his first win of the year. Highfill allowed just one hit with six strikeouts over five innings, not giving up a hit over his final four innings on the mound.

Sophomore Shane Van Dam shined in his Wolfpack debut, tossing four scoreless innings to earn the save on Opening Day. Van Dam struck out five opposing batters while allowing just two hits and two walks.

Cozart extended NC State's lead to its final margin at 6-1 with a towering solo home run to right field in the eighth inning.

Five Wolfpack batters recorded two-hit performances in Friday's win Noah Soles, Brandon Butterworth, Cozart, Makarewicz and Sosa. Cozart's two RBI led the team.

Wolfpack batters struck out just two times on Friday while drawing seven walks. The Pack's pitching duo of Highfill and Van Dam combined to punch out 11 batters while allowing only three hits. Highfill and Van Dam did not allow an extra-base hit, limiting VCU to three singles in nine innings.

VCU reliever Campbell Ellis suffered the loss for the Rams.

UP NEXT
NC State looks to secure its first series victory of the season in Saturday's matchup against VCU. First pitch at The Doak is set for 2 p.m. and will stream live on ACC Network Extra. Head coach Elliott Avent can also notch his 1,000th win at NC State with a victory on Saturday.

https://gopack.com/news/2024/2/16/baseball-13-wolfpack-notches-6-1-opening-day-win-over-vcu

No. 13 NC State baseball used an action-packed fourth inning to power itself over VCU on opening day of the 2024 college baseball season, downing the Rams in a comfortable 6-1 win at Doak Field in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack (1-0) a consensus top-25 team in the country took to Doak Field for the first time in one of its highest-anticipated seasons to date and didn't disappoint. Right-handed pitchers graduate Sam Highfill and sophomore Shane Van Dam combined for 11 strikeouts and one earned run while five Wolfpack batters recorded a multi-hit game.
Despite a shaky start for Highfill, the veteran worked his way through the opening-day jitters and earned a win in his first Friday night start of the season.

"Doesn't matter how long you've been here, there's always nerves on opening day," Highfill said. "I had to work through some of those early, but happy with the way we came out, played hard and got a W."
After giving up a leadoff knock and two straight walks, Highfill put himself into a bases-loaded, no-out jam in just the first few minutes of the season. A sac-fly put the Rams (0-1) up 1-0, but "The Mayor" didn't give up any more than that.
Highfill took his first-day nerves head-on, punching out the next batter and forcing a popup to leave three stranded for VCU.
"We all have jitters," Avent said. "I don't care how long you've done this, if you don't have jitters in this game, then you're not really alive. So I think he went through a little nerves today knowing he didn't have his best stuff, but really proud of the way he competed."
From there, Highfill was lights-out even without his best stuff. He didn't give up another hit and flamed six strikeouts in his five innings of work.
While Highfill settled in, NC State scored its first run of the season in the third inning when freshman designated hitter Alex Sosa hit an RBI single to right field that scored junior catcher Jacob Cozart from second, knotting up the score at 1-1.

To begin the bottom of the fourth, the Rams made a pitching change from Everett Vaughan to Campbell Ellis, the latter of whom had trouble right from the start. Sophomore second baseman Matt Heavner led off the inning with a line drive over the left field wall, the Pack's first home run of the year to put his team up 2-1.
But Heavner's solo shot was only the start of the fun in the fourth. NC State loaded the bases thanks to a walk drawn by junior second baseman Brandon Butterworth and a pair of singles by senior right fielder Noah Soles and sophomore center fielder Eli Serrano, and they were soon turned into cash.
Graduate first baseman Garrett Pennington was hit by a pitch, bringing in Butterworth for the Pack's third run of the day. The next batter, Cozart, brought in Soles on an RBI groundout, and graduate third baseman Alec Makarewicz rounded out the inning with an RBI fielder's choice that brought in Serrano, giving NC State a comfortable 5-1 lead through four.
That ended up being all the Pack needed as the pitching staff took care of business the rest of the way. Van Dam relieved Highfill for the final four frames, throwing five strikeouts of his own and only giving up two hits.
After transferring from SUNY Cortland, Van Dam's transition to Raleigh has been made much easier by his welcoming teammates a welcome made all the easier when Van Dam consistently throws his fastball in the mid-90s.
"It's been awesome," Van Dam said. "I take it in with open arms. All the guys have a great connection with everyone. It's been awesome. I love this place."
The Pack's final run of the day was another solo shot, this one coming off the bat of Cozart over the right field wall in the eighth inning to make it 6-1. The home run could very well be a sign of things to come for Cozart, who is looking to have a breakout season.
"He works so, so hard," Avent said. "The only thing I worry about with him is … people put out a lot of expectations for people, and he has to try to live up to that a little bit, and it's hard for a 20-year-old guy to try to live up to some of the expectations."
With the season-opener under its belt, the Pack will return to Doak Field on Saturday, Feb. 17, with a chance to earn Avent his 1,000th win at NC State. First pitch for game two against the Rams is scheduled for 2 p.m.

https://www.technicianonline.com/sports/fourth-inning-surge-lifts-no-13-nc-state-baseball-over-vcu-in-2024-season-opener/article_ea564a16-cd32-11ee-bb17-03563951d7b6.html

Another great day for baseball in Raleigh ⚾️

⏰ 2 p.m.
📍 #TheDoak
🆚 VCU
📺 https://t.co/SN7A0RHpXH
📻 @AJSandersPxP on @WKNC881
🎧 https://t.co/gxrC0nyh0P
📊 https://t.co/CD2VEwhQVU pic.twitter.com/d5RhDtZfpA

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) February 17, 2024

Alex Gee said:

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If anyone wants to do a little look ahead, it took Ole Miss 13 innings to beat Hawaii last night/this morning.

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Nixon starting in LF today. Sosa behind the plate, Cozart DHing

These uniforms are fire

Agree, but I'm really surprised nobody has complained about them yet. It's still early though.

Fritton dealing.

Atta boy Noah!! good swing there

Nice start

All aboard the Soles train!

I think Soles is crazy underrated. He's so good in the lead off spot.

Mak Mash!

Welcome ECU kid

Man that ball is carrying like crazy to right field lol.