The NC State Wolfpack baseball team lost to the Old Dominion Monarchs 5-0, in a game which its offense struggled mightily with just three hits on the day. However, the offense showed up to Conway, South Carolina on Saturday against Coastal Carolina.
The Wolfpack defeated the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 13-10, behind seven runs between the seventh and ninth innings. For head coach Elliott Avent, it was a great rebound performance from a dreadful Friday.
“We didn’t play well at all yesterday. We didn’t show anything that we had been showing in fall and spring practice against Old Dominion,” Avent said after the game. “This was a big game for us, it felt like a regional game.”
In the top of the first inning, junior catcher Andrew Knizner got the offense rolling for the with a monster home run to left field, putting the Wolfpack up 1-0.
The defense couldn’t hold on to the lead for very long, as the Chanticleers’ G.K. Young hit an RBI single and Zach Remillard hit a two-run homer to put the Chanticleers up 3-1 after one.
Freshman second baseman Xavier LeGrant got his first career at-bat for the Wolfpack in the second and made the most of it, crushing the ball to deep left field for his first career hit and home run, but the Pack still trailed midway through the second 3-2. Avent could see the potential that LeGrant after the home run.
“I don’t like expectations, but I’ve been here a long time and been in college baseball a long time, that kid has a high ceiling on him,” Avent said. “He has the potential to be one of the best players ever at State.”
LeGrant himself was relieved to get the moment of his first hit and home run out of the way quickly in his career.
“It felt amazing, it really didn’t hit me until I sat down in the dugout and sat down for a while,” LeGrant said. “I was floating on clouds when I was going around the bases.”
The Chanticleers put the lead back to two when Tyler Chadwick hit a solo homerun to left field. Despite allowing two more runners on base, Brown would get out of the second with only the homerun contributing to the Chanticleers’ offense, keeping the Wolfpack behind 4-2.
Junior first baseman Preston Palmeiro hit a RBI double to drive in sophomore right fielder Brock Deatherage with one out in the third. Despite getting into scoring position himself, neither Knizner nor senior designated hitter Chance Shepard could bring Palmeiro home to tie the game, leaving the Wolfpack trailing 4-3 going into the bottom of the third.
Billy Cooke got on base with a single in the bottom of the fourth, later advanced to third on a throwing error by LeGrant and scored to extend the lead for the Chanticleers 5-3 through four innings.
In the fifth inning, Deatherage reached first on a walk and McLain would single to advance him to second, setting up Palmeiro for a deep RBI double to drive in Deatherage. McLain stole home on a wild pitch and Palmeiro scored on a double play to give the Wolfpack its first lead since the first inning 6-5.
Remillard tied things up immediately for the Chanticleers, blasting a 3-1 pitch deep to center field. The Chanticleers failed to add any more runs in the fifth, keeping things tied up at 5.
The Chanticleers broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double from Young to drive in Anthony Marks. Following the RBI, senior relief pitcher WIll Gilbert would come in for State to settle things down. Gilbert ended up finishing the inning without surrendering a run to keep NC State in the game down 7-6
Following a RBI by sophomore Josh McClain in the seventh, sophomore shortstop Joe Dunand came through with a leadoff home run deep to centerfield to retake the lead for NC State. McClain tacked on a two-run shot along with a Palmeiro solo give State a 13-7. Dunand remained humble about the moment following the game.
“I just wanted to get ahead in the count and I wanted to get something for the team,” Dunand said. “I just stayed with the process and it just clicked and happened for me.”
After putting two runners on base and getting one out, sophomore Kevin Woodall Jr. smashed a three-run homer to left-field off of sophomore closer Tommy DeJuneas, but it was the only offense that the Chanticleers could muster in the ninth, as DeJuneas sealed the next two outs for the 13-10 win.
Up next for NC State will be Kent State, a team that lost to reigning national champion Virginia and Old Dominion by a combined four runs. The Wolfpack will take on the Golden Flashes Sunday.