NC State baseball was spotty, at best, during March. One night, the Wolfpack would earn a big win, only to be dragged down by double digits the next day. In two series against Virginia Tech and Duke, the Wolfpack won by at least eight runs in one outing, only to then allow a combined 36 runs in the two closing games.
Enter April, as the Wolfpack opened with an easy non-conference get-right game that didn’t turn out to be so. Despite the win, NC State needed a 5-0 comeback effort to escape UNC-Greensboro on Tuesday. Maybe a few days off will do the trick.
As it turns out, the Wolfpack (19-11, 5-5 ACC) still has no answers after an 8-6 defeat to Virginia (17-11, 7-6 ACC) at Doak Field Friday night. The Cavaliers lead the weekend series thanks to a seven-run two-inning stretch where they smashed three home runs, collected seven hits and forced two Wolfpack pitching changes.
The loss drops NC State to .500 in conference play, moving it into the bottom half of the standings.
Leading 4-1 going into the sixth, junior starting pitcher Dominic Fritton lost control of what was an otherwise clean outing. Fritton conceded four hits in the inning in his eighth start of the year, including a three-run bomb that flipped the game in Virginia’s favor.
Replacing Fritton, freshman pitcher Anderson Nance lasted one out in relief, allowing three hits and three runs.
Even still, two Wolfpack home runs in the ninth culminated with sophomore designated hitter Ryan Jaros at the plate with a chance to tie. Jaros struck out swinging, inadvertently launching his bat down the third base line to close the series opener.
“I’m proud of the way they battled back,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “Seventh, eighth and ninth, even being down 8-4. Disappointed with how they got the eight runs, but we battled hard and had guys on in every inning and got the tying run to the plate.”
The Wolfpack offense left 11 runners on base, including nine in scoring position.
“It’s one of the hardest things in baseball to do,” Avent said. “We’re getting better. Our bats are getting better, but with guys on base, we’ve got to be better.”
While losing an ACC game alone is hard enough, losing a Fritton start is devastating for a team fighting for the postseason. Fritton moves to 4-3 on the year when starting as one of the few bright spots during an otherwise underwhelming campaign.
The Wolfpack will look to bounce back in the second game of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m.
