NC State baseball secured a series-opening victory at Pittsburgh Friday afternoon — its 18th straight victory over the Panthers — after a two-out rally in the eighth inning, the pitching staff stifled the Pittsburgh offense for a 6-2 win.
The Wolfpack bats were mostly unproductive for the first seven innings, with only one run scored including four innings with no hits — the one run coming from a sac fly off the bat of junior third baseman Matt Heavner.
Then with two outs, down 2-1 in the eighth, the meat of the order broke through with sophomore first baseman Chris McHugh and sophomore catcher Alex Sosa both getting on base. Junior right fielder Brayden Fraasman came to the plate, smacking the game-tying RBI single into left field to bring in McHugh to make it 2-2.
Next up, sophomore second baseman Luke Nixon smoked a triple into right field to bring in the two baserunners to give the Pack a 4-2 lead which ended up being the game-winning hit.
In the top of the ninth, junior designated hitter Josh Hogue delivered a few insurance runs with a two-run shot over the right field wall.
Junior left-handed pitcher Dominic Fritton delivered another quality outing, going 7.1 innings on 107 pitches, giving up just two runs while striking out 13 batters. It marked the fourth straight game where Fritton has gone at least six innings while giving up two runs or less — a feat he didn’t achieve once last season.
The Panthers’ runs came on a two-run home run into right field in the fourth inning, with Pitt only getting two hits in the other eight innings — totaling four in the game.
After Fritton was taken out in the eighth, junior right-handed pitcher Andrew Shaffner closed the game, retiring the final five batters, with the game ending with a double play. Shaffner struck out two of the five batters he faced.
As other bullpen arms — such as D1Baseball’s preseason No. 1 ranked reliever, sophomore right-handed pitcher Jacob Dudan — have struggled, Shaffner has risen through the ranks and solidified himself as the go-to closer for head coach Elliott Avent early in the season. With eight appearances, one save, and a 2.87 ERA, Shaffner has been one of the Pack’s most reliable arms.
Following another stellar start, Fritton’s ERA remains top five in the ACC at 1.26 and he is second in innings pitched with 28.2 on the season.
Sophomore left fielder Jet Gilliam went 2-3 on the day with a double, a single and a walk. In his young collegiate career, Gillam boasts a .381 batting average in 21 plate appearances.
The Pack plays the second game of the series versus Pittsburgh, tomorrow with the first pitch coming at 3 p.m.
