NC State baseball fell at home in game one of its final series of the year, losing 8-2 after a late explosion of offense from Wake Forest on Thursday, May 19.
The Wolfpack (33-18, 14-13 ACC) managed to hold on for the larger portion of the matchup, but fatigue and cold bats for the red-and-white allowed the Demon Deacons (37-16-1, 13-14-1 ACC) to steal the series’ opening matchup late.
Things opened up with a relatively uneventful first inning. Wake Forest managed to get one runner to first base in the top of the frame before sending NC State to the plate, which suffered a similar fate, failing to get any runners in scoring position.
The Demon Deacons quickly turned things around with a two-run second inning, where Brock Wilken sent a dinger over the left-field wall to score himself and teammate Nick Kurtz. Offensively, NC State wasn’t able to find an answer until the fourth inning.
After a pair of scoreless frames for Wake Forest, the Pack managed to bring a run back in the aforementioned fourth inning. Sophomore first baseman LuJames Groover III smashed a solo home run to left center, bringing his season home run count to 10 and making him the fourth Wolfpack player to reach double digits on the year.
Another down period saw three more scoreless innings until the Demon Deacons and NC State both added another run to the board. A single from Brendan Tinsman brought Pierce Bennet home from second base for Wake Forest in the top of the eighth inning. In response, freshman designated hitter Tommy White did what he knows best, sending his 23rd home run of the season over the center wall for a historic solo shot. Dinger No. 23 for White makes him the record holder of the ACC freshman home run record, a massive accomplishment for one of the most prolific freshmen in program history.
Despite bearing witness to such an amazing feat, NC State couldn’t completely close the gap by the end of the inning, remaining one run down at 3-2 before the beginning of the ninth. Unfortunately for the Pack, one run down is as close as it would get to Wake Forest for the rest of the game.
Amassing as many runs in the top of the ninth as either team had punched home all game, the Demon Deacons posted a five-run inning to ultimately put game one of the series away. A three-run home run from Michael Turconi surely would have been enough by itself to put the pressure on NC State, but a two-RBI double from Adam Cecere sealed the deal for Wake Forest.
NC State got its chance to respond in the bottom of the frame but went down one-two-three to close things out. Most of the credit for the Pack’s lack of production in the batter’s box can be attributed to Wake Forest’s starting pitcher, Rhett Lowder, who went a full nine innings. Holding strong all the way through his 89 pitches thrown, Lowder only let up five hits and two earned runs while striking out six members of the Wolfpack.
On the mound for NC State, redshirt sophomore right-hander Logan Whitaker got the nod, pitching the matchup’s first 7.1 innings before being pulled. In his time on the field, Whitaker threw 114 pitches, amassing five strikeouts, walking four batters and letting up five hits and three total runs.
In to presumably save whatever was left of Whitaker’s arm after throwing an ungodly number of pitches, junior righty Baker Nelson finished the remaining 1.2 innings of the contest. In Nelson’s time on the mound, which also lined up with Wake Forest’s offensive explosion, he gave up five runs on three hits, striking out two and walking three batters.
Despite not being able to keep the floodgates sealed in game one, NC State still has the opportunity to come out of its last series of the regular season with a pair of victories. Game two is scheduled for Friday, May 20, with the first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. at Doak Field. The game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra and live updates of the matchup can be found through @TechSports on Twitter.
