The NC State baseball team completed a two-game sweep of the James Madison Dukes Wednesday, winning 15-2, and improving to 11-1 in midweek games. The Wolfpack had its bats working all day, scoring runs in every inning except the second and eighth.
Freshman David Harrison was extremely sharp on the mound for the Pack (36-12, 15-9 ACC), allowing four hits over 5.2 innings and collecting four strikeouts. It marked the first collegiate win for Harrison, as the Dukes fell to 21-25 on the year.
On the offensive side, the Pack got the scoring started early, with sacrifice flies from sophomore shortstop Will Wilson and freshman designated hitter Patrick Bailey in the bottom of the first.
The Pack broke the game open in the bottom of the third. Senior third baseman Stephen Pitarra led off the inning with a single, and came around to score his second of three runs in the game on a Wilson double. Junior left fielder Brett Kinneman brought Wilson in to make it 4-0. Later in the inning, senior right fielder Brock Deatherage smacked his 12th home run of the season on a three-run shot to make it 7-0. Deatherage went 3 for 5 on the day.
The Pack kept its foot on the throttle, scoring multiple runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. In all, Pitarra finished 3 for 4, and Wilson went 2 for 3 with four RBIs. In addition to the blast from Deatherage, junior catcher Jack Conley also went yard, finishing 3f or 4 with three RBI and two runs.
“Yesterday, I thought we played good but today we played really good,” head coach Elliott Avent toldNC State Athletics. “I just thought we put it together today, everything was good.”
The win moves the Wolfpack to an impressive 21-3 in nonconference play. Conference rival Wake Forest will come to Raleigh for a weekend series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Doak Field.
The Pack will have its hands full against junior pitcher Griffin Roberts, who leads the ACC in strikeouts. Still, the Pack should be excited about accomplishing what it set out to do during NC State’s exam weeks: sweep both of its nonconference series before the weekend slate with the Demon Deacons.
