Sandwiched between hosting The Marucci Classic and The Raleigh Times tournament on back-to-back weekends, NC State softball had to focus on a midweek doubleheader against Campbell. An explosive offensive led the Pack to a sweep with a 7-1 win in Game 1 and a 12-4 win in Game 2.

“We did good,” said head coach Lindsay Leftwich. “[The team] came out and acted and responded differently. … Two big team wins, we got to get a ton of people in and get a ton of people some experience and that is always needed right now.”

There was no bigger highlight than when the Wolfpack put up nine runs in the bottom of the second in Game 2 to jump out to a 10-run lead. Junior catcher Hannah Church, while down in the count, blasted a grand slam over the left field wall to send Dail Softball Stadium into a frenzy.

“We see a lot of good pitches early and it takes a lot to kind of get out of that stuck mentality on the first pitch,” Church said. “[Leftwich] definitely encourages us to take a swing on anything we can do damage on.”

Game 1

Sophomore left fielder Tori Ensley got the Pack going early in the first game. As the leadoff hitter, she doubled through the left side, stole third and then scored on a wild pitch. In the first inning of the second game, she made another similar play when she reached home on the throw after making it to third.

In just her second year with the team, Tori Ensley has become one of the Pack’s best players. She is fourth on the team in batting with a .327 average and leads the team with seven stolen bases.

“The awareness and speed are huge positives, but I think more than anything, with her, it’s like she finally just freed herself up to play and wasn’t so worried about the result,” Leftwich said. “And in turn, is getting some really good results.”

Church followed up Tori Ensley in the first when she scored on a passed ball, making it 2-0 after the first inning. Through the rest of the game, the Wolfpack offense incrementally increased its lead as a pitching duo of junior right-handed pitchers Rylee Wyman and Wynne Gore quieted the Camels’ bats.

Wyman — who started — posted three scoreless innings up until the fourth. Campbell caught on to what Wyman was showing them and loaded the bases with just one out. In a good position to close the gap on the Pack’s 3-0 lead, Leftwich looked to Gore to get the team out of a jam.

The Camels scored on the first of two fielder’s choices but another fielder’s choice and a groundout later, got the Wolfpack out of the inning with a two-run lead. Gore closed the game with a career-high five strikeouts as NC State beat Campbell 7-1.

Coming into the doubleheader, the Pack’s pitching has been one of the best in the country. A team ERA of 1.62 ranked second-best in the ACC and ninth-best in the NCAA. There are no new faces on the mound from the year prior as all four were part of last year’s team. Only Gore didn’t play last year due to injury.

“It’s just one more year of them being completely bought into the system that we put in as a staff,” Leftwich said. “The way [assistant coach Paige Cassady] runs things in there, it’s just the more experience and belief they have in themselves, the better they’re going to get.”

Game 2

After Tori Ensley scored on the wild pitch in the first to kick off the second game, the red-and-white bats caught fire an inning later. Junior second baseman Teagan Thrunk kicked off the scoring with a single that brought redshirt junior Michele Tarpey across home plate.

On another wild pitch and a walk, junior designated hitter Madison Inscoe and senior third baseman Hannah Goodwin would score. Now, the Pack had amassed a 4-0 lead, loaded the bases and had just one out.

Church stepped up to the plate and hit a no-doubter grand slam to left field, her fifth home run of the year. A transfer from Ohio State, Church has already hit more home runs in 17 games with the Pack than she had in 41 with the Buckeyes last season.

“I always knew that coming here was just going to be better for me in general and I expected from the start I wasn’t just going to match it, I was going to do way better,” Church said.

Tarpey followed up Church’s homer with a solo shot of her own to make it back-to-back home runs. Inscoe scored a run for the second time this inning when Thrunk singled to right center.

Heading into the fourth inning, sophomore right-handed pitcher Carly Maxton hadn’t allowed a hit and struck out two batters. Like they had to Wyman in the game prior, the Camels caught on and put runs on the board.

Giving up four singles, two walks and a stolen base, Maxton gave up four earned runs as the Pack’s 10-run lead shrunk to six. Instead of pulling Maxton, Leftwich left her in to see how the sophomore would respond.

“Figure out how to work through it, figure out how to win when you run out of your best stuff,” Leftwich said.

And Maxton did just that. The sophomore got a groundout to escape the inning and in the fourth, delivered two more strikeouts in the fifth to set her teammates up for a possible run-rule win.

In the bottom of the fifth, the first six batters all reached first and the team finished off the game when Thrunk scored on a walk-off walk from freshman shortstop Kendall Simmers.

Since returning to North Carolina, the Pack has won seven in a row. A road win against Elon, a sweep of The Marucci Classic and now the doubleheader win against Campbell. NC State gets to stay at home a little longer as it hosts The Raleigh Times tournament this weekend.

“It feels really good going into this weekend, just knowing that we haven’t lost at home yet and Dail Stadium is just a great place to play especially for hitters,” Church said. “It’s a great feeling and we’re going to carry it into the weekend.”

First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. on Friday against UNC-Wilmington.