NC State baseball dominated North Carolina A&T 14-2 Tuesday night at Doak Field thanks to the back half of the batting order picking up eight RBI’s and two home-runs to run-rule the Aggies in the seventh inning. With the win, the Wolfpack extended its winning streak to nine games.
Junior right-handed pitcher Derrick Smith, who led the Wolfpack (12-5) in saves last season, made his first appearance of the year after dealing with an undisclosed injury. Smith struck out three consecutive Aggies (3-11) to close the game, looking like the pitcher who D1Baseball ranked as the No. 7 reliever in the country. Smith’s insertion back into the lineup is a welcome sight as the Pack starts conference play this weekend.
“It boosted my confidence tremendously, to be doing it kind of like how I was last year,” Smith said. “I’m just working forward and building to keep it going the rest of the season.”
While head coach Elliott Avent said Smith isn’t at peak form yet, it’s a boost to have a player back who notched three saves during the NCAA Tournament last year.
“He knows he’s not back to who he was, but seeing him out there, that was big for everybody,” Avent said. “Everybody loves D-Rock. He’s one of the guys that helped us get to Omaha last year, so that was special.”
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Cooper Consiglio started the game for the Wolfpack, pitching three shutout innings while giving up just one hit and one walk. Consiglio earned the win by pounding the zone as 24 of his 36 pitches were strikes.
“My only objective was just to fill up the zone and let the defense work,” Consiglio said. “I feel like I did a pretty good job of that today.”
The bottom of the lineup — hitters six through nine — got it done at the plate as junior right fielder Brayden Fraasman, the sixth batter, went 2-3 with a home run and a three-RBI double. Freshman center-fielder Ty Head, who hit seventh, went 1-2 with a home run. Sophomore third baseman Ryan Jaros, who batted eight, went 1-2 with two walks. Junior shortstop Matt Heavner, who hit ninth, went 1-1 with two RBIs and three walks.
“When the back of the order produces, that’s what wins championships,” Avent said. “Because A, hitting is contagious, and B, it is hard, so if those guys at the bottom of the order can hit too, they can do more.”
Fraasman started the year strong at the plate, tallying two home runs in the first four games, but cooled off in the interim, with his batting average dropping down to .233 entering the game. A strong performance against the Aggies with two extra-base hits helps the team heading into conference play.
“We were struggling a little bit, but it comes down to quality at-bats, and we have just worked really hard and we knew that we had to do it for the team, and it has been working,” Fraasman said.
Sophomore first baseman Chris McHugh also got it done at the plate versus the Aggies, picking up two RBIs, increasing his total to 25, which is in the top five of the ACC.
Next, NC State will take on Virginia Tech at Doak Field on Friday at 6 p.m.
