JACKSONVILLE, Fla., — No. 12 NC State baseball struggled its way through a 4-0 loss to Alabama on Day 2 of the Jax College Baseball Classic. Despite taking a step forward in the field, the Wolfpack took two steps backward at the plate.
The Wolfpack (3-3) suffered its first shutout of the season, looking completely lost at the plate. As a team, the Pack hit .107 against the Crimson Tide (7-0). Even worse, with runners on base, NC State went 0-11, failing to threaten Alabama’s pitchers throughout the evening. With several new pieces in the lineup, the red-and-white will have to find some offense if it wants to salvage the weekend against Coastal Carolina tomorrow.
“I just want to see us get better, and obviously we need a win,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “That’s three losses in a row and they can pile up on you with the schedule we play.”
After a horrific day in the field against Ohio State the previous day, NC State made it a point to play clean baseball. Junior third baseman Matt Heavner started to improve defense while redshirt sophomore catcher Drew Lanphere moved behind home plate. The new lineup worked with a relatively clean day in the field, aside from an outfield collision between sophomore second baseman Luke Nixon and freshman center fielder Ty Head, leading to an error. Additionally, the team made some impressive throws — especially Heavner — in the field.
“I’m looking for defense,” Avent said. “You’re also looking for offense, but you got to play defense. … Defensively I was very pleased with how we played, except for that one botched thing in center field, which I’m not sure how that happened.”
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Heath Andrews earned his second start of the season, going five innings against the Tide. Andrew proved to be a solid option for NC State, throwing six strikeouts to just two earned runs. Utilizing an impressive slider, Andrews is emerging as one of the more improved players on the Wolfpack this season. The Tide occasionally punished Andrews, including a home run and an RBI double, but overall Andrews was a net positive.
“I thought Heath pitched much better here than his first start,” Avent said. “I thought he was much more relaxed, starting to get sure of himself, starting to gain confidence, understanding where fits in at this level against the people we play and he made some big pitches.”
Despite Andrews’ having a solid performance, the theme of the night was the Wolfpack’s inability to make plays offensively. Totaling just three hits, and only one over the final four innings, NC State failed to take what it got at the plate. Aggressively swinging for contact, the Pack was impatient for strikes — and Alabama capitalized. When NC State did get wood on the ball, it made weak contact leading to groundouts. While there’s plenty of baseball left to be played, the lack of scoring is an early concern for the red-and-white.
“Hitters are usually behind pitchers early,” Avent said. “It’s certainly early and they got to figure things out, but they’re competing, trying to figure things out.”
The Wolfpack will have one more chance to pick up a win in the Jax College Baseball Classic. Taking on Coastal Carolina tomorrow at 3 p.m., NC State will look to break a three-game losing streak. Streaming will be available on D1Baseball.com.
“We need to get a win,” Avent said. “Playing a Coastal [Carolina] team that we know how good they are, and I know we’ll have to be at our best tomorrow.”
