The No. 13 NC State Wolfpack baseball team took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and took two of the three games of the series to reach .500 in conference play this season.
The Wolfpack (16-6, 3-3 ACC) came into the series as an up-and-down team, going 2-3 in its last five games. On the other side, the Irish (8-11, 1-5 ACC) was 7-9 on the season and 1-7 in games away from South Bend, Indiana.
The Wolfpack got the series started with a 9-1 victory over the Irish on Friday night to even its record in conference play.
The game broke open in the sixth and seventh innings. The Wolfpack scored seven runs behind a two-run homer by sophomore Josh McLain in the sixth, and five RBIs between three batters in the seventh.
Sophomore Joe O’Donnell had a stellar game as well, pitching the first complete game for the Wolfpack since Carlos Rodon did it against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on April 25, 2014. O’Donnell would’ve had a complete game shutout had it not been for a James Nevant pinch hit home run in the top of the ninth.
Despite giving up the home run in the top of the ninth, O’Donnell reiterated that his focus was just to pitch his best stuff and get the opposing hitters out. O’Donnell also mentioned having a decent lead from the offense helped his confidence.
“I felt good in those last few innings,” O’Donnell said. “I was just trying to keep attacking hitters and throwing strikes. That’s what any pitcher does when you’re up 9-0.”
The Saturday game was much different for the Wolfpack, as it blew an early 4-0 lead and fell to the Irish in 12 innings, 8-4.
The four runs for the Wolfpack were scored on a combined four RBIs from junior Preston Palmeiro and sophomores Shane Shepard and Brock Deatherage in the fourth inning, part of a 16-hit day from the offense.
Despite having a strong game from sophomore Brian Brown, who struck out a career-high 13 batters, the bullpen surrendered a combined six earned runs in the top of the ninth and 12th. The relievers combined for eight walks to give NC State 10 for the game, a number head coach Elliott Avent was not pleased with.
“You should never win a ball game when you are giving up 10 walks in a game,” Avent said. “I’m still convinced that we are not playing to win.”
The sour end of Saturday’s game carried over early on Sunday, as redshirt junior starting pitcher Johnny Piedmonte gave up four unearned runs and was pulled from the game afterward. The Irish tacked on another run in the third to put the Wolfpack in an early 5-0 hole.
In the bottom of the third, the offense came alive for NC State. After RBIs from junior Andrew Knizner and senior Chance Shepard, Palmeiro hit a double with the bases loaded for three RBIs to tie the game at five through three innings.
Palmeiro was calm about the moment and was really looking for one pitch to hit off of Fighting Irish junior Scott Tully.
“In that at-bat, I was just looking for a fastball over the middle of the plate,” Palmeiro said. “I had a long at bat my first time up, so I saw what he had. He made a mistake, and I just took advantage of that.”
Including the third inning, the Wolfpack outscored the Irish 16-2 to crush the Irish 16-6 and take the curfew-shortened rubber game of the series. For Avent, it was great seeing his team rebound after a bad ending Saturday.
“I saw a lot of flashes of winning baseball today,” Avent said. “But we have to get tougher, a little more about winning, but I definitely saw some flashes today.”
With the series against the Irish concluded, the Wolfpack will embark on an eight-game road trip against the Florida State Seminoles, UNC-Wilmington Seahawks, UNC-Charlotte 49ers and Virginia Cavaliers before returning home April 6 to take on UNC-Charlotte at Doak Field.
