Behind a dominant performance from sophomore left-handed pitcher Ryan Marohn and a strong collective effort at the plate, NC State baseball had no issues disposing of Canisius in a 10-0 victory at Doak Field Sunday evening.
With the win, the Wolfpack (6-5) completed a much-needed sweep after suffering through a five-game losing streak. After making several fielding errors throughout the Jax College Baseball Classic and looking lost at the plate, the sweep over the Golden Griffins (0-6) should be a confidence booster. NC State will have one more non-conference weekend series against Wright State to tune things up before ACC competition begins.
Marohn proved to be the star of the afternoon, racking up a career-high 11 strikeouts. Pounding the zone better than anyone else on the Pack’s roster this season, Marohn is pitching like the red-and-white’s best starting option on the mound right now. The lefty threw all seven innings without a single walk.
“I’m just going out there, competing, pounding the zone,” Marohn said. “I just felt like I was pounding the zone early and getting ahead of hitters, which definitely helped.”
With Marohn shoving on the mound, the Wolfpack earned its first shutout of the season. Additionally, the Wolfpack defense played error-free baseball all day. After struggling in the field last week, a clean performance like this is a welcome sight for the red-and-white.
“The guys behind me played amazing defense,” Marohn said. “Super happy that they were making all those plays. McHugh made a great diving play at first, a bunch of other guys made good plays, so it was really nice.”
At the plate, NC State also posted one of its best team showings of the season. Senior shortstop Justin DeCriscio sent one out of the yard on just the second pitch of the game. With a solo homer to seize the lead early, the Wolfpack took early momentum. Keeping the foot on the gas, NC State loaded the bases in the second and scored two more.
“Just getting on the board in that first inning is nice,” DeCriscio said. “There wasn’t much pressure going into it, just doing our thing and Marohn shoved today, so that helped.”
The Wolfpack truly broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth, scoring five runs in the frame. A fielding error by Canisius sparked the scoring explosion as sophomore first baseman Chris McHugh reached second. The Pack then put on a hitting clinic with four hits and two walks, to take a commanding 8-0 lead into the fifth. Unlike its previous game against Canisius, the Wolfpack remained firmly in control, in large part thanks to Marohn’s outstanding performance.
Next up, NC State will visit UNC-Greensboro for a midweek matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday. The game will be available on ESPN+.
