The No. 8 NC State baseball team dropped its fourth straight game as the Northeastern Huskies completed their sweep with a 6-0 shutout win on Sunday, March 6.
The series finale showcased more of the same themes from the first two games. The Pack (8-4) couldn’t string hits together or hit the ball over the fence. The Huskies (5-5) jumped on NC State’s pitchers early. The Wolfpack’s fielding wasn’t up to snuff with two errors and a handful of other miscues.
“Northeastern was a good team,” said freshman shortstop Payton Green. “I think we kind of struggled at the plate a little bit as a team, but we got to come back this week working hard.”
Northeastern wasted no time in spoiling the Pack’s day. Senior left-handed pitcher David Harrison (4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER) gave up a leadoff home run to Jeff Costello. Harrison managed to settle in well for the rest of his outing except for another solo homer he surrendered in the fourth, but NC State’s inability to do much of anything on offense resulted in Harrison getting stuck with the loss.
The Huskies shut down the Wolfpack bats like they’ve done all series long, but that dominance was more apparent in this game than in the prior two. NC State couldn’t muster any extra base hits and never even got a runner to third base.
Northeastern right-handed pitcher Wyatt Scotti was dealing from the mound throughout his start for the Huskies, giving up just five hits in seven shutout innings. In addition to more long flyouts by the Pack, Scotti kept NC State from stringing hits together with nine groundouts compared to six flyouts.
“How he commanded the strike zone, three pitches for a strike, he threw outstanding,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “A lot of confidence, tough guy, can make adjustments with his pitches. He kept us off balance all day.”
The game got out of reach in the fifth inning as the Wolfpack gave up three runs on four hits. Harrison struck out Justin Bosland for out number one before junior righty Baker Nelson (0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER) came in from the bullpen to face the largely right-handed Northeastern lineup. Nelson proceeded to give up three straight singles and a run before senior southpaw Canaan Silver (1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 K) could finish warming up.
The Pack gave up two more runs before Silver closed out the inning, but Silver couldn’t really be blamed for them. With runners on second and third with one out, the NC State defense got caught sleeping as Spencer Smith beat out an infield single. Both runners crossed home plate while freshman first baseman Tommy White (0-4, K) glanced at the umpire for the call at first base.
In a weekend that the Pack would probably like to forget, defense came up time and time again in the trio of losses. NC State combined for nine errors on the series, so defense will be a point of emphasis for the Wolfpack going forward.
“We got to shore up our defense,” Avent said. “We have to play better defense. I think the pitching has been as good as it can be right now. We got some guys that are pitching well but we got to make plays for them.”
NC State will get its next chance to bounce back when it hits the road for another nonconference game against the UNC-Greensboro Spartans on Tuesday, March 8. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
