NC State baseball clinched a series win over No. 14 Louisville, run-ruling the Cardinals 11-1 in Game 3 at Doak Field.
The Wolfpack (24-12, 9-6 ACC) sought its first series win against a top 25 opponent and looked to keep alive the possibility of hosting an NCAA Tournament regional. The Cardinals (26-9, 9-6 ACC) hoped to get a road series victory and gain even more momentum going into the final month of the regular season.
“It’s all about winning the series,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “That’s what this whole game has come down to. And in a conference like we play in, if you win more series, you get into the postseason. You keep winning series, you’ll go to Omaha, and that’s what it’s all about. Winning series right now, we’ve won four out of five.”
The Cardinals struck first with a leadoff single and an RBI-double in the first inning.
The rest of the game was all Wolfpack. State kept Louisville off the scoreboard in the following seven innings.
“Everything was kind of going well for us today,” said sophomore starting pitcher Ryan Marohn. “The defense made tremendous plays. Offense was hot today, we were swinging it well. When you have the lead, you’re more confident on the mound so I think that helped today.”
It took the Pack a few innings to get going at the plate — but after it started rocking, it rolled. A two-run home run by senior shortstop Justin DeCriscio in the 3rd inning kickstarted the Pack, followed by another great fourth inning to go up 6-1.
“We always go up there and we have our plans and stick to those, and that brings confidence,” said DeCriscio. “Hitting is hard, but when results come, that definitely brings confidence.”
With an RBI single by sophomore third baseman Ryan Jaros in the fifth inning, the red-and-white put itself in great position late in the game, leading 7-1. The Pack closed out the game in the bottom of the eighth, scoring three runs on wild pitches and one on a bases-loaded walk.
With this win, the Pack still has not lost a series at home this season, and is now 4-1 in ACC series, tying Louisville for fifth-place in the conference. This win also marked the 18th win at home for the red-and-white.
“It’s special,” DeCriscio said. “The fans, they’re into it. It’s super fun, just playing at our home turf, kind of where you practice and everything. On the road or at home, it doesn’t really matter. We’ll show up and we’ll put it on.”
The Wolfpack’s pitching staff has raised some yellow flags coming into this series, but after a ranked win over a red-hot Louisville offense, Marohn has proven he has what it takes to be one of the best starting pitchers in the league.
“We played Virginia when they were hot on fire,” said Avent. “We played Louisville when they were on fire, and not only are they on fire, but they’re good. That’s a really good baseball team. They are put together as good as you put a team together. They got speed, plate discipline, power, athletes, and they play defense… I think it says a little bit about our heart, who we are, who we’re trying to be, and how our guys are going about things right now.”
The Wolfpack next plays on Thursday, April 17, when it travels to Berkeley, California, to take on the California Golden Bears. First pitch is slated for 9 p.m. Eastern time.
