Due to inclement weather in Raleigh, our series this weekend against Longwood has been canceled.

Turning our attention to our new season opener - Wednesday, Feb. 16 against Boston College.

https://t.co/PpICyiWKeb https://t.co/Fqg7gWxf0k

.@PackSoftball is set for a busy week with six games across four days against a pair of ACC opponents.

Feb. 17 vs. Boston College
Feb. 18 vs. Louisville
Feb. 19 vs. Louisville (DH)
Feb. 20 vs. Boston College (DH)
@rachelmichele15
https://t.co/8jy13cWwBe

For the first time in 344 days, NC State softball is set to take the field this week for six games in a period of four days. The Wolfpack will open with an ACC slate of three games apiece against Boston College and Louisville. The 2021 debut comes Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. against Boston College before NC State will matchup Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. against Louisville. A doubleheader against the Cardinals is slated for Feb. 19 starting at 11 a.m. followed by a Saturday, Feb. 20 doubleheader against Boston College at 11 a.m.

Dail Softball Stadium will also serve host to several neutral site ACC matchups, all of which can also be found on ACCNX.

Due to health and safety recommendations and current state guidelines, attendance at NC State softball home competitions is limited to a pass list of player and coach guests only. No tickets are available to the general public at this time. Please continue to visit GoPack.com for the latest updates.

SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE
Boston College opened its 2021 season in Jacksonville with two games apiece against North Florida and Jacksonville. The Eagles lone victory came in its first game against North Florida with a 2-0 win.

Boston College returns 17 letterwinners, including all nine position starters from 2020 and its three primary pitchers. Their offensive attack is led by Emme Martinez who was a 2019 All-ACC Second Team selection. The teams pitching rotation is headlined by Susannah Anderson who had a 1.80 ERA in 85.2 innings last season. She picked up BC's lone win last weekend and pitched 14.2 of the team's 25 innings.

2021 is the second season for Boston College head coach, Amy Kvilhaug. Kvilhaug led the Eagles to a 9-12 record last season. NC State leads the all-time series between the two teams, 24-16 and has won the last seven-straight.

SCOUTING LOUISVILLE
Louisville was picked one spot above the Wolfpack in the 2021 ACC Coaches Preseason Poll, after going 10-13 in 2020. The Cardinals opened their 2021 season with a doubleheader against Alabama, after the team's originally scheduled tournament was canceled due to weather.

Louisville returns 14 letterwinners from 2020 in addition to seven newcomers. The Cardinals were led last season by the Greenwood sisters as Cassady Greenwood led th team with a .386 batting average and Camry was second with a .373. The team also returns powerhouse Celene Funke who finished 2020 on a 10-game hitting streak.

The Cardinals pitching staff is led by Taylor Roby who went 5-7 in 2020 with a 2.00 ERA in 73.2 innings pitched. Louisville used three pitchers in its openeing weekend, with Southern Indiana grad transfer Jennifer Leonhardt leading the team with six innings pitched. Leonhardt holds a 0.00 ERA after allowing four unearned runs between the two games.

SCHEDULE UPDATE

In anticipation of weather later this weekend, tomorrow's game against Boston College will be a doubleheader!

Tatyana Forbes is balancing her final college softball season with @PackSoftball and Olympics prep for Team Mexico.
https://t.co/dBUlNXvIvX

game 1
Boston College 1
NC State 0

game 2
NC State 6
Boston College 3

.@PackSoftball went 1-1 in its season-opening doubleheader, hitting two home runs to secure the second game.

HC Patrick-Swift: "We didn't do our style of hitting. We just didn't look comfortable in the box. When we hit home runs, we win a lot of games."
https://t.co/300zDrtArw

Due to inclement weather, tomorrow's game against Louisville will not take place as originally scheduled.

Further schedule information will be available at https://t.co/g7u64KoGTC when available. https://t.co/Vj41Qpsg2s

We've got more schedule adjustments coming you're way!

Tomorrow's doubleheader against Louisville has been pushed back to 1 p.m.

Both games will still be broadcast on ACCNX. https://t.co/Wm0Kgi0Tu8

The NC State Softball team has added an additional game against Gardner-Webb on Friday, Feb. 26. The two teams were originally slated to play a three-game series beginning on Feb. 27. Those games will continue as scheduled with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the series finale on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 12 p.m. All games in the series will be broadcast on ACCNX.

Update: Today's doubleheader will now begin at 2 p.m.

We have also rescheduled Thursday's game against Louisville for tomorrow at 3 p.m.

game 1
NC State 8
Louisville 4

game 2
NC State 4
Louisville 3

The NC State offense clicked Friday, putting up 12 runs in two games against Louisville in a pair of wins against the Cardinals. NC State (3-1, 3-1 ACC) totaled 19 hits across the two games, including five home runs.

Logan Morris went 3-for-7 on the day, including two home runs and four RBI. The Wolfpack had a total of 10 different hitters record a hit on the day.

Abby Trahan pitched lights out in game one, picking up her second win of the season. Trahan (2-1) allowed two runs on three hits with five strikeouts. Freshman Estelle Czech made her collegiate debut, pitching two innings of relief where she tallied two strikeouts.

Sydney Nester earned the start in game two, pitching her first complete game of the season. Nester (1-0) allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits with seven strikeouts.

GAME 1 RECAP
NC State game out quick to open the game, with an RBI-double by Angie Rizzi in the first inning. Rizzi then scored two batters later thanks to a single to center field from Morris for a 2-0 lead. Louisville promptly answered in the bottom half of the frame tying the game early with a two-run home run by Cardinal pitcher Taylor Roby.

From then on, it was all home runs for the Wolfpack. Angie Rizzi led off the third inning with a single before April Visser delivered with a home run for the 4-2, go ahead lead. For the second-straight frame, NC State put its leadoff batter on base as Sam Gress drew a hit by pitch in the fourth inning. Sam Russ then notched her second homer of the season to extend the Wolfpack to a four run lead, 6-2.

After a 1-2-3 inning for Trahan, Morris led off the fifth with a solo home run. NC State's eighth run of the game came in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Rizzi that scored Russ from second.

Louisville put up a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth before Czech was able to work out of the jam, stranding two runners for the Cardinals in scoring position.

GAME 2 RECAP
It was another early lead for NC State, scoring three runs in the first inning off an RBI-single by Visser and a two-run home run from Morris.

Nester would then retire seven-straight Louisville batters across the third, fourth and fifth innings. Roby once again hit one over the fence to bring the Cardinals within two, 3-1. Carson Shaner came up big in the bottom of the sixth, delivering a solo home run that would be the deciding run in the game. The homer was the first hit of the season for Shaner.

Louisville fought to piece together a comeback effort in the top of the seventh that would fall short. With two outs, Roby had a two-RBI single. Another runner would reach base for the Cardinals, before Tatyana Forbes grabbed the final out of the game on a fly out to right field.

UP NEXT
NC State is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 20 to conclude its opening weekend. The Wolfpack will play an 11 a.m. matchup against Boston College before taking on Louisville again at 3 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ACCNX.

Behind 5 home runs across the two games, @PackSoftball swept its doubleheader against Louisville 8-4, 4-3.

Logan Morris: "We got some early hits that kept us going, and of course, a lot of home runs help a lot."
@benellis81
https://t.co/WFmE7L6bS0

Saturday game 1

NC State 7
Boston College 6

2 run home run to tie in bottom of 7th

walk off home run by Sam Russ

game 2
Louisville 5
NC State 4

While at halftime of @PackMensSoccer...

@PackSoftball split its Saturday doubleheader to end its action-packed opening weekend, going 4-2 overall across the six games.
@rachelmichele15 & @ksebastian0
https://t.co/PAgMdDlCPi

.@PackSoftball went 4-2 over its opening weekend with four games decided by just one run. Here are @bryanpyrtle's takeaways from those games:

Unsustainable thin run margin
Forbes' drop in production
New faces in new places
Trahan starting well
https://t.co/YPHuXkDPa2

.@PackSoftball takes on Gardner-Webb this weekend in a 4-game series that spans from Friday-Sunday.

The Runnin' Bulldogs return Preseason Pitcher of the Year Brooke Perry, who compiled an 11-3 record as a starter in 2020 with an ERA of 1.75.
https://t.co/hOi5JewLhu

Sydney Nester pitched a gem of a game which included nine strikeouts in five innings, as NC State defeated Gardner-Webb, 4-1, in five-innings Friday afternoon. The game was called due to weather, however, because of the completion of five innings counts as a full game.

Nester pitched the complete 5.0 innings, allowing two hits with one run and nine strikeouts. She retired eight-straight with six strikeouts in the first, second and third inning after giving up two leadoff runners.

NC State was led at the plate by Tatyana Forbes, Angie Rizzi and Sam Sack who all tallied two hits, including two-RBIs from Rizzi.

HOW IT HAPPENED
NC State's got its scoring effort going in the bottom of the third after Sack leadoff the inning with a double to deep right field. The Wolfpack would load the bases twice in the inning, scoring two runs ultimately on a single by Rizzi for the 2-0 lead.

The Pack came right back in the fourth, extending to a three-run lead on an RBI-double by Forbes. Gardner-Webb picked up its lone run in the top of the fifth thanks to back-to-back singles and a wild pitch. NC State kept it a three-run lead thanks to another RBI-double in the bottom of the fifth.

OF NOTE
The Wolfpack hit four doubles, the most for NC State since Mar. 24, 2018 and tied for the sixth most in program history.
Nester now has 28 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched with a 2-1 record this season.
Nester's nine strikeouts tie for the fifth most in the ACC this season



Team Statistics
PITCHING
W: Sydney Nester (2-1)
L: PERRY, Brooke (0-1)

Gardner-Webb
BATTING
RBI: STERRETT, Trinity 1
BASERUNNING:
RUNS: ALMOND, Weslyn 1
SB: ALMOND, Weslyn 2; STERRETT, Trinity 1

NC State
BATTING:
2B: Tatyana Forbes 1; Angie Rizzi 1; Randi Farricker 1; Sam Sack 1
RBI: Tatyana Forbes 1; Angie Rizzi 2; Randi Farricker 1
BASERUNNING:
RUNS: Sam Russ 1; Gracie Roberts 1; Randi Farricker 1; Sam Sack 1
SB: Gracie Roberts 1; April Visser 1
HBP: Sam Gress 1
Game Leaders

Hitting
Tatyana Forbes
#16 Tatyana Forbes
AB 4
R 0
H 2
RBI 1

Angie Rizzi
#42 Angie Rizzi
AB 3
R 0
H 2
RBI 2

Sam Sack
#18 Sam Sack
AB 2
R 1
H 2
RBI 0

Randi Farricker
#13 Randi Farricker
AB 2
R 1
H 1
RBI 1

UP NEXT
Softball continues its series against Gardner-Webb with a doubleheader, Saturday, Feb. 27. Both games of the doubleheader will be broadcast on ACCNX.