Sophomore left-handed pitcher Ryan Marohn had a career performance on the mound against Wright State (4-9), pitching a nine-inning shutout with a career-high 14 strikeouts. Marohn retired 18 straight batters to seal the eighth straight win for the Wolfpack (11-5).
“The last four innings were as good of a four innings as I’ve ever seen pitched here,” said head coach Elliott Avent.
That’s high praise from a coach in his 29th season with the Pack.
By the time Marohn faced his final batter, with a chance to put an end to the game, he had already thrown 124 pitches — well beyond the normal workload for a starter. Avent didn’t want Marohn throwing that many pitches, but he couldn’t take him out because his starter was cruising.
“He was so efficient in every pitch he threw,” Avent said. “He wasn’t pulling any pitches, he wasn’t losing anything, and he’s worked so hard. … It was kind of effortless in the way that he was pitching. That is what made the decision to let him stay out there, even though I hated it.”
The last complete nine-inning game thrown by an NC State pitcher was May 8, 2022 when current graduate Matt Willadsen did it against UNC Chapel Hill. Willadsen was also the last to throw a nine-inning shutout that came a season prior on April 11 versus Boston College.
At the beginning of the game, Marohn wasn’t sure if he had the stuff to, but as the game went on, he became more confident it was his day.
“The first few innings, I was not hitting my spots as best as I could have,” Marohn said. “By the fourth, fifth, sixth inning, I wouldn’t say I locked in, because I was definitely locked in the whole time, but I definitely felt better throughout the game … and it’s a great feeling to be able to hug your catcher after the game.”
At the plate, the Pack was mostly quiet until sophomore first baseman Chris McHugh crushed a no-doubter over the left field wall in the fourth inning to take a two-run lead.
With another multi-RBI game, McHugh has solidified himself as a leader at the plate. His 25 RBIs so far this season put him squarely in the top 10 in the ACC.
Avent said before the season that you don’t find out who the leaders are until things start to go sideways. Now that the Pack is back on track after a five-game losing streak, Avent said it is important to recognize the responsibilities of each player on the diamond and in the dugout.
“Everybody’s a leader,” Avent said. “Everybody leads, either by example, by their actions, by their words, by their work ethic. … In a sense, we all lead whether we know it or not, and whether it is good or bad.”
One veteran leader for the Pack has been senior infielder Justin DeCriscio. DeCriscio left early in the game on Tuesday versus UNCG with a minor hamstring injury, sitting for a few games. He started Game 2 versus Wright State and came in late Game 3, where he picked up a sac-fly RBI in his one at-bat to give the Pack a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning.
“He battled the hamstring the entire spring, and he didn’t get onto the field until the first game,” Avent said. “He was nursing it early in the season, but when he finally got going, he tweaked it again. We were trying to get him the whole day off — and we almost did. He’s got the day off tomorrow and we’ll see about Tuesday.”
NC State will take on NC A&T (3-10) on Tuesday at Doak Field at 6 p.m.
