The NC State baseball team won its fifth straight game by shutting out the East Carolina Pirates 2-0 on the road in Greenville.
The Wolfpack (16-8) scored one run apiece in the second and fourth innings, both of which came off the bat of senior second baseman J.T. Jarrett, and did not give up a run against the Pirates (14-12).
The Pack scored its first run in the second inning when Jarrett hit a sacrifice bunt that scored sophomore left fielder Dominic Pilolli, who had hit a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch, putting the Pack up 1-0.
Jarrett tallied his second RBI in the fourth inning when he hit a single that scored freshman designated hitter Tommy White, who hit a single to lead off the inning and advanced to second on another hit by Pilolli, putting the Pack up 2-0.
That was all the scoring the Pack needed to do as the NC State pitchers held up their end of the bargain, allowing just three hits and tallying five strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Garrett Payne got the start and his third win of the season after allowing two hits in 2.2 innings and tallying two strikeouts, while sophomore southpaw Chris Villaman picked up his fourth save of the season by closing it out in the bottom of the ninth.
Senior lefty Canaan Silver and junior right-hander Baker Nelson also saw time on the mound, with Silver pitching 3.1 innings and Nelson pitching two innings. Each tallied a strikeout, while Silver gave up just a hit.
A couple of key fielding plays by the Pack also helped in keeping the Pirates off the board. In the bottom of the fourth, senior center fielder Devonte Brown made a leaping catch at the fence that robbed the Pirates of a solo home run, and with the tying run on the plate in the seventh, sophomore first baseman LuJames Groover III made a nice grab to get the out at first and end the inning.
As a team, the Pack had a total of eight hits for a .250 batting average, compared to three hits for a .100 batting average by the Pirates.
This was the latest in a string of quality wins for the Pack. After making it to the NCAA Super Regionals last season, the Pirates entered this season ranked and have beaten teams such as North Carolina, Duke, Michigan and Maryland, and before this game, the Pack was coming off a big sweep over then-No. 12 Georgia Tech.
After a stretch that included eight losses in 11 games, the Pack’s “revenge tour” may be getting a second wind.
The next stop in the tour is in South Carolina as the Pack takes on Clemson in a three-game series April 1-3. The games on Friday and Saturday begin at 6 p.m. and the finale on Sunday begins at 1 p.m., with the games on Friday and Sunday being broadcast on ACC Network Extra and the game on Saturday being broadcast on ACC Network.
