The NC State baseball team completed a sweep of William & Mary Sunday afternoon at Doak Field, coming back to beat the Tribe 7-3 behind a four-run fourth inning.
The Wolfpack (34-12) earned its first sweep since taking all three games against Clemson back in March while the Tribe (15-32) dropped its ninth game in a row.
“We’re still not playing as well as we were early,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “Right now I think we’ve got to get a little better, but we’re working to do it every day and we’re glad to have that sweep.”
Sophomore right-hander Mathieu Gauthier took the mound for the Wolfpack, giving up a run in the first frame but turning in one of his more effective outings of the season.
“I thought he did a good job,” Avent said. “He threw strikes and got us to the fifth inning, and when you get to the fifth inning that’s a good thing when you’re only down one run.”
Gauthier didn’t pick up the win, but tossed 4.2 innings, one inning shy of tying his career high, giving up just one run on five hits while striking out four and walking none in a solid performance.
Senior center fielder Josh McLain continued to rake, picking up three hits and two RBIs while freshman designated hitter Terrell Tatum picked up two hits including an RBI double.
“Tatum’s a good player,” Avent said. “He gives up a spark as he can run.”
Tribe starter Chris Farrell stifled the Wolfpack offense for three innings, but the stalemate didn’t last long.
The Pack finally broke through at the plate in the fourth inning. A single and an error put junior first baseman Evan Edwards on second base, and senior right fielder Brock Deatherage drove him in with a double up the middle to tie the game at one run apiece, using his speed to turn what would have been a single into a double.
Tatum drove in in Deatherage with an RBI double of his own. While trying to stretch his gap shot to a triple, Tatum stumbled and fell halfway between second and third base.
Luckily for him, an errant throw to third ricocheted off the third baseman and into the camera well, allowing Tatum to score and give the Wolfpack the lead at 3-1.
“It was like the world was lifted off my shoulders,” Tatum said.
Later in the fourth inning, McLain came through with an RBI single up the middle to give NC State the 4-1 lead. The fourth frame saw four NC State runs, four hits, three walks and two William & Mary errors.
William & Mary picked up a run in each of the sixth and seventh innings to make it 5-3, but the Pack put an end to the comeback attempt as it began to pull away, scoring two two-out runs in the seventh to push its lead to 7-3.
Freshman left-hander Nick Swiney, redshirt senior right-hander Joe O’Donnell and graduate right-hander Johnny Piedmonte combined to finish out the game for the Wolfpack, with Swiney picking up his fourth win of the season.
“Coming off a sweep is always great,” Tatum said. “Especially when you got a good team like James Madison coming in Tuesday and Wednesday. We are hoping to go in, be able to sweep them in these two mid-week games coming up.”
The Wolfpack will take on James Madison Tuesday and Wednesday before returning to its conference schedule and hosting Wake Forest in a three-game set next weekend.
