Brandon Lang
Sophomore outfielder Jade Caraway runs toward first base after a bunt during the game against ECU. The Wolfpack defended their home, winning game one 8-1 and tying game two 3-3 in Dail Softball Stadium on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017.
The NC State softball team lost its second game of the day on Saturday, by a score of 3-1 to the Northwestern Wildcats at Dail Softball Stadium in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Wolfpack (4-4) played its second game in a row, with both games totalling over six hours combined, and it seemed the Pack was exhausted, but NC State coach Shawn Rychcik disagreed.
“I think we’re well conditioned,” Rychcik said. “I don’t think [playing six-plus hours of softball] had anything to do with it.”
Defensive miscues, walks and lackadaisical hitting plagued the Wolfpack throughout the entire game. The Wolfpack committed two errors, had a number of other defensive miscommunications, walked eight Northwestern batters, struck out 11 times and didn’t muster its first hit until the fifth inning.
Rychcik attributed the Wolfpack’s poor play to the strength of Northwestern pitcher Kenna Wilkey.
“We couldn’t solve [Wilkey] today,” Rychcik said. “We got some walks off of her which was good, but we never really could solve the hitting side of it.”
The Wildcats (5-3) were playing their first game of the day and the energy discrepancy was apparent. The Northwestern team played flawless defense and was extremely patient at the plate on its way to drawing eight walks.
Northwestern started off the scoring in the first inning when Wilkey singled in a run. The Wildcats tacked on another run in the fourth inning when second baseman Rachel Lewis drove in a run on a fielder’s choice. Northwestern added an extra insurance run the following inning when an errant pitch from NC State sophomore pitcher Devin Wallace allowed Northwestern third baseman Mac Dunlap to score from third base.
It was a long day for Wallace, who was visibly tired throughout the game as she struggled through a game that saw her throw 160 pitches.
Wallace allowed just three runs, two of which were earned, but issued eight walks and let up eight hits in an outing in which the Wildcats could have put up much more than three runs. Wallace was able to force Northwestern into stranding 13runners on base.
Rychcik thought that while Wallace was unusually inaccurate, a part of that inaccuracy was effective in allowing only three runs, calling her “wild enough to be effective.”
“[Most of the hits] were pretty much infield dribblers,” Rychcik said. “We didn’t feel like they were on her.”
Sophomore outfielder Angie Rizzi had one of the Wolfpack’s two hits, a fifth-inning, two-out triple. With the Wolfpack down 3-1, junior first baseman Cheyenne Balzer stepped to the plate with a chance to cut the lead to one or tie the game up, but Balzer flew out to centerfield.
Freshman outfielder Sam Russ contributed the Pack’s other hit, a seventh-inning, one-out bunt single to try and start a rally. Russ was ultimately stranded on first base as the Pack’s next two batters, sophomore outfielder Jade Caraway and Rizzi, went down in order.
Caraway scored the only run the Wolfpack had as a result of Northwestern pitcher Kenna Wilkey walking the bases loaded and then walking senior shortstop Alyssa Compton, who got credit for the RBI, to score Caraway.
Ultimately, the score was only 3-1 and the Wolfpack had the tying run at the plate twice in the final frame. Rychcik thought the Wolfpack did a good job staying in position to win the game, but just couldn’t finish the job.
“We’re keeping ourselves where we have a chance to win the games,” Rychcik said. “We just have to come through and finish them off.”
The Wolfpack returns to action Sunday against Northwestern at Dail Softball Stadium at 12:30 p.m.