The No. 24 NC State baseball team scored a run in five straight innings to take down No. 10 Clemson 6-1 and clinch the series victory Saturday afternoon in South Carolina.
The Wolfpack (17-3, 4-1 ACC) trailed in the hit category, 9-8, but senior left-hander Brian Brown (4-0, 0.57 ERA) managed to keep the Tigers (16-3, 3-2 ACC) at bay as NC State earned an important road series win over one of the ACC’s best teams.
Neither team recorded an error, but the Wolfpack benefited from four wild pitches and one balk by the Tiger pitching staff.
Brown struggled with his control early, walking three out of the first four batters in the second inning to load the bases with one out. Clemson took a 1-0 lead after Kyle Wilkie roped a two-strike single to left field. Brown struck out the next two Tigers to escape the bases-loaded jam.
Not to be outdone, the Pack answered by plating a run of its own the next inning. Freshman catcher Patrick Bailey singled off of Clemson pitcher Brooks Crawford for NC State’s first hit of the game to start the third frame.
Redshirt sophomore Dillon Cooper followed with a single and freshman second baseman J.T. Jarrett layed down a sac bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Clemson elected to not bring its infielders in with one out, and senior center fielder Josh McLain grounded out to the shortstop to score Bailey from third and tie the game at 1.
Brown regained his control and State took the lead, 2-1, in the fourth frame. Sophomore shortstop Will Wilson doubled, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a sac fly by junior first baseman Evan Edwards.
NC State struck again in the fifth and sixth innings to extend its lead to 4-1. In the fifth, in nearly identical fashion to the third inning, Bailey singled to open up the frame, Cooper followed with a walk and Jarrett advanced both with a sac bunt. McLain drove in Bailey on an infield single. Edwards launched his sixth longball of the season in the sixth to increase the Wolfpack advantage.
Brown continued to shutdown the Tigers offense. After the three-walk second inning, he surrendered just one more free pass while giving up just five hits and striking out eight and walking four through six innings. He was credited with the win, his fourth of the year.
The Pack picked up another run in the seventh, using a leadoff walk to McLain, a single by Wilson and a base on balls to Edwards to load the bases. A wild pitch scored McLain to give the Pack a commanding 5-1 lead in the seventh inning.
NC State grabbed one more insurance run in the ninth inning after McLain led off the inning with a base hit, advanced to second on a walk and to third on a wild pitch. Wilson grounded out to score McLain and five the Pack its final run of the game and push the lead to 6-1.
Freshman Reid Johnston tossed three scoreless innings to close out the game for NC State, striking out three and walking none to earn his fourth save of the season. His ERA sits at an impressive 1.80 in 20 innings.
McLain went 2 for 4 with two runs, two RBIs and a walk to lead the Pack offense. Bailey made the most of his start behind the dish, going 2 for 3 with two runs.
The Pack will take on Clemson in the series finale and go for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.
