ELON, N.C. —The NC State baseball team outlasted the Elon Phoenix in a 2-1 win on Tuesday, March 15.
The Wolfpack (10-6) boasted multiple great outings on the mound, but the offense barely contributed enough to beat the Phoenix (9-7). A pair of runs in the second inning was all the Pack’s offense could muster, but the pitching made up for it in the end.
NC State grounded out three straight times in the bottom of the first, but redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Logan Whitaker (4.2 IP, 0 H,0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) fired back with a great inning by allowing only one baserunner, who reached on an error. Whitaker continued to deal throughout his outing, tossing 4.2 innings of no-hit ball until junior right-hander Baker Nelson (1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 K) finished off the bottom of the fifth with a strikeout.
The Pack already held a two-run lead by that point thanks to a sacrifice fly from sophomore left fielder Dominic Pilolli (1-3, RBI) and an RBI single by freshman shortstop Payton Green (1-4, RBI), but that’s all the run support NC State’s pitching would get. Once again, the ball simply wasn’t popping off of the Wolfpack’s bats. NC State struggled to make solid contact and its handful of flyouts never even sniffed the warning track.
Despite the tight margin, the Pack relievers kept the Phoenix off the board until the very end. Nelson rattled off two more strikeouts in the sixth despite a one-out double by Charlie Granatell, the only extra-base hit of the game for either side. When Nelson gave up a single and a walk to start the bottom of the seventh, senior southpaw Canaan Silver (1.0 IP, 2 K) took the proverbial torch by notching two strikeouts of his own along with a fielder’s choice to maintain the shutout.
A 5-4-3 double play to end the eighth prevented the Phoenix from putting up any runs on sophomore right-hander Garrett Payne (1.0 IP, H, K), but sophomore lefty Chris Villaman (1.0 IP, 2 H, R, K) wasn’t so lucky in the ninth. After a leadoff single, a grounder to third looked awfully similar to the one that ended the previous inning, but redshirt junior third baseman Josh Hood (1-4, SB) missed the mark on his throw to second, sending the ball into shallow right center.
Villaman struggled to quell the rally for a bit, throwing two wild pitches to the next batter who eventually reached on an infield single. With the tying run on third base, the winning run on first and nobody out, Villaman provoked a pivotal swinging strikeout to set up a game-ending double play. The Pack immediately cashed in on that opportunity to escape with a win as Green fielded a first-pitch ground ball, stepped on second and fired to first for the final out.
NC State will head home for another midweek game against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Wednesday, March 16. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
