NC State softball (15-11, 3-5 ACC) went 1-2 in its weekend series against Georgia Tech (16-9, 5-1 ACC) at Shirley Clements Mewborn Field in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Pack was outscored 10-4 in three games, including getting shut out on Friday and Sunday due to excellent pitching from Georgia Tech.
On Friday, sophomore pitcher Devin Wallace pitched well, but the Wolfpack was unable to get the bats going, losing a low scoring game 3-0. NC State had only four hits including two by freshman second baseman Chandler Gardner.
NC State’s bright spot was a 4-2 win on Saturday behind a complete game from Wallace. Also in that game, Garner hit a sixth inning three-run home run to take the lead and ultimately give NC State the come-from-behind win.
Sunday’s rubber match, however, was similar to Friday. NC State had only four hits again. Freshman starting pitcher Kama Woodall gave up five runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings that led to a 5-0 loss.
Sunday is only the third time that NC State has been shutout this season, showing how dominant the pitching was for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets’ main pitcher, Emily Anderson, pitched 16 innings giving up only 10 hits and one run against the Pack.
The pitching was also good for the Pack in all three games, especially with Wallace on the mound who has pitched 99 innings already this season while giving up only 34 earned runs. Wallace has shown why she’s the number one pitcher on the roster and the Pack will need her continued success going deeper into ACC play.
On the offensive side, NC State struggled mightily against the Yellow Jackets’ pitching. Garner was the only spark at the plate, going 5 for 9 with three huge RBIs in the second game to pull out NC State’s only victory. She has the Pack’s highest batting average on the season at 0.317 including five home runs on the year.
The Pack will look to right the ship in its upcoming games. The team is 3-6 in its last nine games and is being out-scored 29-48 during that period.
NC State softball will be back in action on Wednesday at Dail Softball Stadium, where the Pack is 9-6 on the season. The team will face off against UNC-Charlotte at 5 p.m.
