The Wolfpack softball team is opening up its spring 2022 season with a series of five games at the River City Leadoff over the course of Feb. 11 to 13. NC State started off strong in its Friday doubleheader, beating Winthrop by one run and shutting out Jacksonville.
NC State started the weekend against Winthrop, beating it 3-2 in seven innings. After Winthrop got ahead in the first with two runs, the Pack played a strong defense the rest of the game, not allowing any more runs.
While it took a while for the Pack to get any runs on the board, the top of the sixth brought all three runs it would score. Sophomore pinch runner Gracie Roberts scored the first run for NC State, with the next at-bat pulling two runs by graduate students first baseman Taylor Johnson and shortstop Randi Farricker.
Redshirt sophomore Aisha Weixlmann pitched for five innings against her former team and earned the win with seven strikeouts and only allowing the two hits leading to Winthrop’s early scores. Graduate student Maddie McPherson pitched the last two innings of the game, allowing no hits and recording four strikeouts.
NC State went on to shut out Jacksonville, 8-0, in its second and final game of the first day of the tournament. Redshirt sophomore Sam Gress pitched all five innings of the night, allowing no runs on five hits and recording three strikeouts.
Graduate student right fielder Carson Shaner started the scoring with a two-run homer. This great offense carried through the entire fourth inning, with five runs scored in that inning alone. Roberts, fifth-year center fielder Brittany Jackson and sophomore second baseman Kaylee Lambrecht each contributed a run in the offense-heavy inning. Shaner, Johnson and redshirt sophomore pinch hitter Libby Whittaker all scored in the fifth to bring the Pack’s score up to eight runs and finish off the game.
The River City Leadoff series will continue on Saturday, Feb. 12. The Pack will have another doubleheader, facing off against Florida A&M at 1:30 p.m. and North Florida at 6:30 p.m.
