After sweeping No. 14 Clemson on the road last weekend, the NC State baseball team did not start this weekend’s series against Georgia Tech on the right foot, falling 13-4 in game one of a doubleheader Friday at Doak Field.
Sophomore starting pitcher Michael Bienlien only lasted 0.2 innings for the Wolfpack (18-4, 5-1) allowing six runs in the top of the first. Nine different players recorded at least one hit for the Yellow Jackets (13-9, 3-4).
The game did not start the way the Wolfpack or Bienlien wanted. The Jackets smoked Bienlien for six runs on six hits, as the Pack lifted its starter with two outs in the first inning, replacing him with sophomore reliever Mathieu Gauthier.
Gauthier cruised through the second and third innings, but in the top of the fourth, a single, a wild pitch and a pair of walks loaded the bases with nobody out. The Pack escaped major damage, however, as sophomore shortstop Will Wilson, freshman second baseman J.T. Jarrett and junior first baseman Evan Edwards turned a 6-4-3 double play, allowing just one run to score. A foul out to first ended the inning, and the Pack headed to the bottom of the fourth down 7-0.
The Pack finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh. Walks from senior right fielder Brock Deatherage and junior catcher Jack Conley put runners on first and second with one out. A single to center from freshman infielder David Vazquez drove home Deatherage, getting the Pack on the scoreboard at 7-1. The team could not put another run across, however, and headed to the eighth still trailing by six runs.
The Pack again threatened in the bottom of the eighth when senior infielder Shane Shepard and junior first baseman Evan Edwards drew back-to-back walks with two outs, but Deatherage struck out swinging to end the inning and NC State could not get a run home.
The Jackets added a pair of runs in the top of the ninth off an RBI double from infielder Tristin English, leading to freshman pitcher David Harrison, who threw three innings and allowed four runs on four hits, being replaced by freshman Cole Hooper. Georgia Tech added four more in the final inning to make it 13-1.
The Pack loaded the bases with a trio of singles to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and got one home on a sacrifice fly from sophomore outfielder Lawson McArthur, and two more on a single from Wilson to make it 13-4 and close out the scoring.
The Pack will immediately face the Yellow Jackets again in the second game of the double header Friday night, with game three to be played either Saturday or Sunday.
