NC State softball split its doubleheader on Friday, April 8, beating East Tennessee State 4-0 in the afternoon’s first matchup before falling 9-3 to the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The pair of games brings NC State to a 27-14, 5-10 ACC record on the season, with the home run or bust mentality still in full swing for head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift’s team. Coming into the day as the No. 54 team in the country by RPI, the Pack’s Friday performance likely won’t change much in terms of national placement but does resurface concerns over the team’s ability to hang with the more consistent programs.
East Tennessee State
As has been the case for Wolfpack softball in recent years, home runs serve as the team’s primary win condition. In the day’s first matchup, NC State was able to meet that requirement with redshirt sophomore first baseman Libby Whittaker smashing one to deep-left center field, scoring the game-clinching three runs that the Pack needed to win 4-0.
Whittaker made the most out of the Pack’s only hit of the game, scoring graduate student right fielder Taylor Johnson and freshman utility player Maddy Schmeiser. NC State’s only other run of the day came courtesy of a wild pitch, bringing sophomore second baseman Kaylee Lambrecht around the bases for an unearned run.
Graduate lefty Maddie McPherson got the nod in the circle for the day’s first matchup, facing 20 batters in six innings pitched. In her time on the mound, McPherson amassed an impressive 10 strikeouts with no walks, giving up only three hits. The victory brings McPherson’s record to a solid 9-5 on the year.
Freshman designated player Michele Tarpey came in to relieve McPherson in the seventh, helping the Pack close out game one. In her lone inning pitched, Tarpey did what it took to earn a win for NC State, striking out two batters, walking one and letting up a single hit against the five batters she faced before the end of the inning.
South Carolina
Live by the home run, die by the home run: with the Pack’s first game of the day being secured via dinger it was nothing short of poetic to see the team fall to the Gamecocks due to a lack of consistent offensive output. Things got out of hand early for NC State, going down 9-1 by the end of the second inning thanks to some scorching hot bats in South Carolina’s lineup and a disastrous fielding performance.
The Gamecock’s first three runs came by way of an Aaliyah White single. A fielding error moved White to second base and a subsequent error got her to third, scoring South Carolina’s first run. Things remained largely the same in the bottom of the second, with fielding errors and wild pitches contributing to the majority of the Gamecocks’ six runs in the frame. Despite a double from freshman left fielder Alaina Smith scoring Whittaker in the top of the second, bringing the Pack back within two runs in the top of the second, by the time NC State could stop the bleeding in the bottom of the inning it was too late.
NC State earned its last two runs of the afternoon in the form of a Lambrecht single scoring Whittaker in the top of the fourth and a solo shot to left-center field from fifth-year third baseman Logan Morris in the seventh.
Redshirt sophomore righty Aisha Weixlmann got the start in game two and was awarded a swift reality check. In just 1.2 innings pitched, Weixlmann gave up two hits, eight runs — just two of them earned — and walked three of the 14 batters she faced. Patrick-Swift decided to make a change, bringing McPherson in for the remainder of the matchup despite her six innings pitched in game one.
McPherson kept the scoreline respectable, letting up four hits and one earned run while striking out two batters and giving up zero walks in 4.1 innings pitched. By the time McPherson took the mound, the damage was already done. The loss drops Weixlmann’s record to 11-6 on the year and serves as a reminder that this team can show up as a dominant force or a discombobulated nightmare in any given matchup.
Pack softball sees its next doubleheader of the Garnet and Black Round Robin on Saturday, April 9, facing off against ETSU at noon and South Carolina at 5 p.m. The Pack will hope for a better outing against the Gamecocks on the event’s second day, but it’s hard to tell given the inconsistencies this team has shown thus far.
