Tied 3-3 in the fifth inning, Pack softball once again had a chance to secure a much-needed win over No. 18 Clemson and get back in the win column. But instead of getting over the hump, a disastrous sixth inning — similar to the night before — extended the Pack’s losing streak to double digits as it moved to below .500.
NC State (21-22, 4-14 ACC) fell to Clemson (34-11, 14-4 ACC) in front of a sold-out crowd after giving up four runs in the sixth inning and unable to match the Tigers’ offensive firepower.
The Pack started the game off strong with starting sophomore pitcher Carly Maxton retiring three of the first four batters and allowing no runs in the top of the first. In the bottom half, redshirt junior first baseman Michele Tarpey crushed the second pitch over the left field fence and cartwheeled to the dugout.
Positive vibes remained with the Wolfpack as freshman shortstop Kendall Simmers had a solo shot of her own in the fourth. In the fifth, sophomore center fielder Tori Ensley led off with a double and junior left fielder McKayla Marbury brought her home with a single, tying the game at 3-3.
But after Marbury’s RBI single, the bats went cold for the Pack, and nine of the next 10 batters were retired to end the game.
On the defensive side, two NC State errors put Clemson in scoring position in the sixth, including an error in center field by Tori Ensley and a throwing error by freshman third baseman Taryn Massey. A tie game quickly turned into a 7-3 deficit, insurmountable for a mostly unproductive offense.
Other than the solo home runs from Tarpey and Simmers, the Pack accumulated just three baserunners with three base hits, having no walks or batters hit by pitch throughout the game.
Maxton was assigned the loss after giving up two earned runs in 3.1 innings, moving to 9-8 on the season. She was replaced by junior pitcher Wynne Gore, who closed out the final 3.2 innings, giving up three earned runs. The defense let Gore down with the wind taken out of the Pack’s sails with the errors as it couldn’t get out of the sixth inning, giving up five total runs.
Getting swept to extend its losing streak to 10 is not a desirable result, but the Pack has shown a lot of fight in recent games. With 12 games to play, and being on the outside of the ACC Tournament field looking in, there is some work to be done. 12 teams make it into the field, and NC State is ranked No. 13, just behind Boston College (18-21, 4-11 ACC).
Before heading to UNC-Chapel Hill next weekend, the Pack will play a midweek doubleheader versus Longwood on Tuesday, Apr. 14 at Dail Softball Stadium, with the first game starting at 4:00 p.m. and the second game starting at 6:00 p.m.
