N.C. State (33-10, 14-7 ACC) has proven that it can overcome deficits, turn games around and earn wins. Tuesday night against Davidson (12-27, 7-14 SoCon), it did just that in dramatic fashion.
“It was wild,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “Their teams are always prepared. He put his best two guys in there at the end, and fighting back from a 3-0 deficit against those two guys makes me real proud of our ball club.”
After dropping behind 3-0 in the fifth inning, the Wolfpack tied the game in the seventh and got a walk-off sacrifice fly off of the bat of sophomore center fielder Jake Fincher to clinch the victory, 4-3.
“Jake is an exciting guy,” Avent said. “To relax on the 3-2 pitch and get that sac fly, that was the smoothest and most controlled swing he has had all year. It was a great job.”
The team earned its 15th consecutive win which is now the longest in the country after UNC-Wilmington broke UNC-Chapel Hill’s 14-game winning streak by a score of 9-8.
Senior right-handed pitcher Ethan Ogburn started the game for State and threw four innings, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out two.
Junior left-handed pitcher D.J. Thomas only faced two batters in his premature outing. Thomas beaned the first batter he faced then allowed a bases-loaded single to end his trip on the mound, bringing redshirt junior right-hander Anthony Tzamtzis to the hill.
Tzamtzis gave up a two-run double to the first batter he faced, but the Miami native escaped the inning by striking out the next three batters.
“He made one mistake with a fastball he left up and away,” Avent said. “A fastball left up and away may be the worst pitch in baseball. Then, he stopped it. It was big that he stopped it right there.”
Sophomore southpaw Travis Orwig followed Tzamtzis and shut out the Wildcats in the 2.2 innings he pitched. Orwig held Davidson to one hit and one walk while striking out four. However, an eighth-inning jam caused an early exit as senior righty Josh Easley finished out the inning.
“When [Orwig] came in, it settled the game down and let our guys know that we had a chance to win this thing,” Avent said.
Redshirt senior pitcher Grant Sasser (3-0, 0.59 ERA) retired the Wildcats in order en route to the victory.
The Pack did not get on the scoreboard until the sixth inning when sophomore shortstop Trea Turner, who led off the inning with a double, scored on a wild pitch thrown by Wildcat junior right-handed pitcher Jip Richards.
Turner finished the game 1-for-2 with two runs, three walks and stolen base, increasing his hitting streak to 13 games.
“[Hitting] has been fine for the most part,” Turner said. “I feel a little funky right now. I am trying to fix something right now, but things have been falling for me, so I cannot complain.”
State rallied back to tie the game in the next frame. Sophomore right fielder Jake Armstrong doubled to lead off the seventh inning and advanced to third on a fly out by senior second baseman Matt Bergquist. Turner walked in the next at-bat and moved up to second on a wild pitch by Davidson sophomore right-hander Matt Saeta. Fincher followed with a single into center field that scored Armstrong and Turner.
Neither team scored another run heading into the bottom of the ninth when sophomore left fielder Logan Ratledge sent the first pitch he saw up the middle for a base hit. After Bergquist flew out to right field, Ratledge stole second base in the next at-bat, forcing the Wildcats to intentionally walk Turner.
Another wild pitch moved Ratledge to third, setting Fincher up for the sacrifice fly. Ratledge scored, giving the Wolfpack the 4-3 victory.
“Once Logan got over on the passed ball to third, it was a full count, so I was expecting a fastball out of him, so I saw it up and hit it,” Fincher said.
N.C. State will take on No. 1 UNC this weekend at Doak Field in a three-game series, beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.
