In its home opener, NC State softball steamrolled the Northern Colorado Bears 11-1 in a five-inning run-rule at Dail Softball Stadium Friday afternoon. The Wolfpack crossed home plate in all five innings and capped it off with a walk-off homer from junior second baseman MaKayla Marbury.
Since a disappointing end to the Joan Joyce Classic in Boca Raton, Florida, the Pack (7-5) has strung together two consecutive wins. Against Northern Colorado (3-8), the bats got hot quickly courtesy of senior right fielder Taylor Ensley.
After her sister — sophomore left fielder Tori Ensley — grounded out to third, Taylor Ensley cracked one over the center field wall. Facing a 2-0 count, Taylor Ensley swung on the third pitch and connected for her fourth homer of the season.
The Pack positioned itself to run up the score even more in the bottom of the first as a pair of singles and a walk following Taylor Ensley’s homer loaded the bases. With an opportunity to extend the team’s lead, senior third baseman Hannah Goodwin left three on base with a fly out to right field that ended the inning.
Similarly to its 2-0 loss against the Minnesota Gophers, NC State left eight runners on base through four innings as it took multiple frames to build a comfortable lead against a weaker Northern Colorado side.
Junior right-handed pitcher Rylee Wyman kept the pressure off of her batters. In her second complete game of the season, Wyman gave up only three hits and one earned run. She struck out nearly half of her totaled batters faced with eight strikeouts — a new season high.
Six of her eight strikeouts came swinging as she had full control of the mound and her ball placement. In the first two innings alone, she blew it by four Northern Colorado batters.
The second inning was nearly identical to the first. With the bases loaded and one out, junior designated hitter Madison Inscoe hit a sac fly to center that brought in one run, but the Wolfpack couldn’t capitalize any further. Junior catcher Hannah Church struck out swinging, leaving the Ensley sisters on second and third base.
Freshman shortstop Kendall Simmers has had a hot-and-cold freshman campaign. She is tied for first in RBIs but also leads the team in strikeouts. She flashed her talent today, going 2-3 from the box with three runs and two RBIs. As the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the third, she homered down the left-field line to make it 3-0.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the fourth that the Wolfpack earned its first multi-run inning as a trio of doubles from Taylor Ensley, Church and Marbury put two runs on the board.
Wyman’s sole run came in the top of the fifth when second baseman Jaycie Gandert advanced to third on the throw after hitting a double. Before Gandert could cross home plate herself, Wyman forced a pop-up that minimized the damage to just one run.
The fifth inning was where the Wolfpack bats exploded, scoring six of its 11 runs. Inscoe got it going with a two-RBI double and Simmers made it three with a single of her own. With full momentum, Marbury stepped up to the plate.
Like Simmers, Inscoe, Taylor Ensley and junior catcher Ellington Whitaker had before her, Marbury didn’t let two outs on the board faze her. On the second pitch she saw, Marbury unleashed the ball over the wall to walk it off. The three-run homer marked her first RBI of the season and gave much-needed confidence to Marbury, who has been struggling in the batter’s box recently.
NC State will continue its Marucci Classic action tomorrow with a doubleheader against Central Michigan at 3:30 p.m. and a rematch versus the Bears at 6 p.m.
