NC State baseball made a meteoric rise after sweeping then-No. 2 Clemson, moving from No. 25 to No. 13 in D1Baseball’s top 25.
Some of that momentum took a hit after a midweek loss to UNC-Wilmington on Tuesday, but the buzz remained for NC State’s trip down to Coral Gables, Florida, as it took on Miami boasting seven straight ACC wins.
Despite all the hype, NC State (30-14, 15-7 ACC) dropped the series opener, losing 6-4 to a hot Miami (28-18, 18-7 ACC) team that has now won nine straight ACC games. The Pack’s leadoff batter got on base in seven of nine innings, building the foundations for offensive success — progress that was quickly washed away by the Hurricanes, who retired the next batters in order in four of those seven innings.
Despite recording 11 hits, the Pack only mustered four runs, partially due to having worked just two walks. Sophomore second baseman Luke Nixon had three hits, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a single and an RBI. NC State put it together in the third and fourth innings where it scored all four of its total runs.
Miami’s offense was powered by third baseman Daniel Cuvet, who belted two two-run home runs, his 11th and 12th on the season. The other two Miami runs came from a sacrifice fly and a stolen home base.
Junior pitcher Dominic Fritton started on the mound and immediately got into trouble, giving up two runs in the first inning. By the time he was pulled in the seventh inning, he had given up six earned runs. In five of his last six starts, Fritton has given up at least four runs.
Sophomore reliever Jacob Dudan came in for Fritton, earning four outs in 19 pitches. Having thrown 36 pitches against UNCW, head coach Elliott Avent seemingly tried to save Dudan for another appearance in the series, or potentially wanted a favorable handedness matchup in the final at-bat of the eighth inning. Avent turned to freshman left-handed reliever Tristan Potts who struck out the final Miami batter in four pitches. But the bats were unable to come through in the final frame.
Florida State reclaims its spot at the top of the ACC standings after the Wolfpack loss.
NC State will look to even the series and reclaim momentum in Game 2, set for 6 p.m. Saturday.
