On a beautiful day at Doak Field in Raleigh, the NC State baseball team kicked off its season with a commanding 8-4 win over Seton Hall in the first game of a Friday doubleheader.
The Wolfpack (1-0) outhit the Pirates (0-1) 12-6, including two home runs, one each from senior outfielder Brock Deatherage and senior first baseman Shane Shepard. Deatherage added a two-run single in the seventh inning to lead the Pack, going 2 for 3 with three RBIs.
Senior left hander Brian Brown got the start and the win for the Wolfpack, holding the Pirates to one run over six innings of work. Brown carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, collecting five strikeouts to go along with two walks. Shane McCarthy was the losing pitcher for the Pirates, allowing three runs, only two earned, and seven hits over five innings.
The Wolfpack scored its first run of the year in the second inning thanks to a two-out solo home run by senior right fielder Brock Deatherage. On a 2-2 pitch from Seton Hall pitcher Shane McCarthy, Deatherage pulled a fly ball just over the right field wall to give the Pack a 1-0 lead.
Brown started the game rolling, not allowing a hit while piling up five strikeouts through the first five innings. However, Brown hit a wall in the sixth inning. After allowing his first hit of the game, Brown walked a batter and hit another to load the bases with one out.
Seton Hall’s Al Molina tied the game up at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly to left field, as junior left fielder Brett Kinneman’s throw to the plate was too late and off-line to cut the runner down.
NC State answered right back in a big way, scoring five runs in the sixth before recording an out to jump back ahead to a 6-1 lead. Kinneman reached on an error to start the inning, followed by three straight hits from junior designated hitter Evan Edwards, senior center fielder Josh McLain and sophomore catcher Brad Debo to make it 4-1.
With freshman catcher Patrick Bailey on first base, who pinch ran for Debo at first and stayed in the game to do the catching, senior first baseman Shane Shepard launched an opposite-field home run over the wall in left field to extend the lead even further.
Deatherage built on his solid outing in the seventh, collecting two more RBIs to push the NC State lead to 8-1. Deatherage singled on a line drive that just cleared the second baseman’s glove, scoring Bailey, who reached on a fielder’s choice, and freshman infielder Devonte Brown, who was pinch running for Edwards.
Freshman righty Reid Johnston took over for Brown on the mound after the sixth and pitched a clean seventh inning. The Pirate bats came alive in the eighth though, as Seton Hall added three runs on four hits to cut the Wolfpack lead to 8-4. Johnston would finish the game out in the ninth to seal the NC State victory.
It’ll be a quick turnaround for the Pack and the Pirates, with the second leg of the doubleheader coming Friday afternoon. The series finale will be Sunday at 1 p.m.
