Wolfpack Takes Two Against Ninth-Ranked Blue Devils

NC State (15-7, 5-4 ACC) won its weekend series over No. 9 Duke (17-7, 4-5 ACC) at Doak Field at Dail Park with wins on Friday and Saturday before coming up short in the Sunday matinee.

GAME 1: NC State 4, Duke 3

The Wolfpack picked up the series-opening victory over the Blue Devils Friday afternoon, 4-3. State’s offense only mustered four hits off of Duke’s pitching while relying heavily on its own pitching prowess.

Sam Highfill (2-1, 4.70 ERA) earned the win after striking out eight batters while allowing all three of the Devils’ runs on six hits and one walk over seven innings. After Jacob Cozart drove home the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the seventh, Jacob Dudan six of the seven batters he faced, three via strikeout, to secure his third save of the season.

Meanwhile, Duke southpaw Jonathan Santucci held the Wolfpack hitless over his 5-1/3 innings of work despite exiting the game with a scoring deficit. The Leominster, Mass. native left the mound after allowing three runs on seven walks while racking up five strikeouts. Gabriel Nard (0-2, 3.45 ERA) would be saddled with the loss after giving up just one run over two innings in relief.

The Blue Devils would strike first in the top of the second inning. After Duke loaded the bases with a pair of base hits and a walk, Wallace Clark would drive Andrew Yu home with a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the fifth, the Pack would answer as Brandon Butterworth, Noah Soles, and Luke Nixon would walk to load the bases with nobody out, setting up Josh Hogue and Garrett Pennington to plate Butterworth and Soles, respectively, to give State its first lead of the game.

The next two innings saw the teams match each other tit for tat. Duke’s Logan Bravo led off the top of the sixth with a solo home run that tied the game at three runs apiece. In the home half, Nixon took advantage of a packed diamond and drew a bases-loaded walk that brought Eli Serrano, III home. However, the next frame saw Devin Obee open the top of the seventh with a triple before traipsing to the plate on another sac fly by Clark. Following the stretch, Cozart would wrap up the game’s scoring with an RBI single that brought home Alec Makarewicz who reached base on a one-out double.

GAME 2: NC State 9, Duke 8

Serrano capped off a six-run ninth-inning rally with a two-run home run to walk the Wolfpack off against the Blue Devils, 9-8.

Derrick Smith (1-0, 16.62 ERA) picked up his first collegiate win after pitching a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout. Logan Whitaker started on the mound and gave up four runs in four innings of work, striking out four batters and allowing six hits and four walks before giving way to Win Scott.

Scott surrendered two runs in 1-2/3 innings yet still struck out three Duke players. Heath Andrews followed Scott’s tenure and pitched 2-1/3 innings in which he gave up two runs on four hits and one walk while retiring two batters on strikes.

Meanwhile, Duke’s Ryan Higgins started on the mound and hurled four shutout innings, striking out four and allowing just three hits and two walks. Jackson Emus followed and gave up two runs while recording just two outs before Owen Proksch got the Blue Devil defense out of the fifth.

The next two innings belonged to James Tallon who held the Wolfpack to just one hit while striking out three batters. Charlie Beilenson (0-2, 3.60 ERA) got shellacked by NC State’s offense for seven runs, four earned, over the final 1-2/3 innings of the game.

A.J. Gracia started the game’s scoring with an RBI single in the top of the first inning, plating Zac Morris. One inning later, Clark launched a solo home run to make it a two-run lead. Duke would compound the score in the fourth inning when Morris doubled Obee and Chase Krewson home.

The Pack finally managed to score its first runs in the bottom of the fifth. Butterworth drew a leadoff walk before Soles drilled his third home run of the season over the wall in right field. However, Bravo responded in the top of the sixth with a base hit that brought Morris and Ben Miller in to score. Gracia drove the Blue Devils’ final runs home in the top of the eighth when he crushed Andrews’ full-count pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run bomb.

Pennington led off the bottom of the eighth by taking Tallon’s 1-1 pitch out of the ballpark. However, that would be the only run in that frame, leaving State’s offense to make up a five-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth.

Butterworth and Soles reached base to lead off the frame via walk and beanball, respectively. Two batters later, Hogue reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed Butterworth to score, thanks to a throwing error by Bravo. With runners on second and third, Pennington clobbered his second homer of the day, a three-run shot that brought Duke’s lead to one. Two batters later, Cozart hit a two-out base hit to bring Serrano to the plate for the decisive, 437-foot blast.

GAME 3: Duke 13, NC State 2 (7 INNINGS)

After staging late-inning rallies in the first two games, the Wolfpack experienced no such luck in the finale as the Blue Devils walloped NC State’s pitching to pick up a mercy-rule victory on Sunday, 13-2.

Dominic Fritton (1-2, 8.46 ERA) started on the mound for the Pack and earned the loss after allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits and one walk over four innings despite striking out five batters. Hollis Fanning and Carson Kelly pitched the final three innings and combined to give up eight runs on six hits.

Duke’s Andrew Healy (2-1, 5.00 ERA) picked up the win after holding NC State’s bats in check for five innings, allowing just two solo home runs while striking out six and walking one on just 61 pitches. Fran Oschell, III would hurl the next 1-2/3 innings, but after the Wolfpack loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, Nard would enter and toss a strikeout to end the game.

The Devils struck first in the top of the first inning. With runners on first and second, Gracia reached on a fielder’s choice to first base, but a throwing error by Pennington allowed Morris to score. Makarewicz answered in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run to tie the game, but Duke broke the game wide open in the top of the fourth.

Alex Stone hammered Fritton’s 1-0 pitch over the wall in center field for a leadoff homer. Later in the inning, an RBI double by Clark plated Yu before Morris extended the Blue Devils’ lead with a two-run bomb to right field. Again, Makarewicz answered the call to rally, but as it had been in the first inning, the Longwood, Fla. native’s fourth-inning four-bagger was a solo shot. 

Obee padded Duke’s lead further in the sixth with a home run. One inning later, the Blue Devils tacked on seven more runs. Bravo drove Miller home with a double before Stone drilled his second home run of the day, a two-run shot to right-center field. After a pair of singles and a walk, Morris came to bat and crushed a grand slam over the wall in right field, his second of the afternoon.

The Wolfpack next travels to UNCG on Tuesday, March 26 for a 6 p.m. showdown with the Spartans before hosting Notre Dame for a three-game series beginning two days later.