The No. 21 NC State baseball team got smoked by the Virginia Tech Hokies 21-10 in the series opener in Blacksburg, Virginia on Friday, April 8.
The Wolfpack (18-10, 6-6 ACC) gave up six runs in the third inning and a whopping 11 runs in the seventh inning to the Hokies (19-7, 6-5 ACC), who hit seven home runs.
After the Hokies scored a run in the bottom of the first, the Pack scored its first run in the top of the second as sophomore left fielder Dominic Pilolli hit a solo home run to tie the score 1-1. The Hokies scored another run in the bottom of the second, and the Pack answered again in the top of the third as redshirt junior shortstop Josh Hood hit an RBI groundout that scored junior catcher Jacob Godman to tie the score 2-2.
That’s when the Virginia Tech bats really heated up as the Hokies scored six runs on three home runs in the bottom of the third to go up 8-2. The Pack responded with two runs of its own in the top of the fourth as sophomore right fielder Noah Soles drove in senior second baseman J.T. Jarrett and Pilolli on an RBI single, making the score 8-4.
The Hokies hit another home run in the bottom of the fourth and scored another run in the bottom of the fifth to go up 10-4. After neither team scored in the sixth, the Hokies really went to town on the Pack in the bottom of the seventh as they hit another three home runs en route to 11 total runs, going up 21-4.
The Pack scored two more runs in the top of the eighth and four runs in the top of the ninth, including a two-run home run by sophomore second baseman DeAngelo Giles, but the deficit was ultimately too much to overcome as the Hokies won it 21-10.
It was a rough night to say the least for the NC State pitching staff. Redshirt sophomore Logan Whitaker took the loss in his start, giving up four home runs and nine earned runs in four innings. Redshirt junior Logan Adams gave up five earned runs in two innings pitched, and freshman Jacob Halford gave up two home runs and seven earned runs in just 0.1 innings pitched.
While the loss won’t sit well with the Pack, it did come against a Virginia Tech team that has been playing very well recently, as the Hokies have won eight of their last nine games, including a series win over North Carolina last weekend and a win against Notre Dame.
The Pack’s loss was somewhat similar to last season’s 21-2 blowout loss to No. 1 Arkansas in the first game of the NCAA Super Regional. As NC State fans will remember, despite the lopsided score, the Pack came back to win the next two games and advance to the College World Series.
The point is, the Pack can just as easily bounce back the next two days to win the series against the Hokies. If the Pack wants to do that, however, it has to get its pitching figured out.
Game two of the series is on Saturday, April 9 at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
