NC State softball had its first major endurance test on Friday, taking on Georgia Tech for a total of 18 innings that stretched from the afternoon to late in the evening. Despite putting up a fight in both games, the Pack didn’t get past the visiting Yellow Jackets in either game of the doubleheader.
The Wolfpack (14-7, 1-4 ACC) hosted Georgia Tech for its first home ACC series of the season and came into the matchup reeling from a series loss against Clemson a week earlier. The Yellow Jackets (17-7, 5-0 ACC) are the team to beat in the ACC and the Pack came up short. The first matchup of the day saw gridlocked offenses which pushed the game to 11 innings, while the second game was all Georgia Tech in the batter’s box.
Game one
The afternoon started slow in the box for both teams, with no run on the scoreboard until the sixth inning. Through the first three innings, the Pack went three up, and three down on the offensive side and could not get any momentum going. The red-and-white held off any scoring attempts from the Yellow Jackets until halfway through the game.
Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Aisha Weixlmann started in the circle for the Pack and pitched 5.2 innings. During her time on the mound, she threw 86 total pitches for three strikeouts and one run allowed that was unearned. The lone Yellow Jackets run in regulation innings came off of an unearned run that sent a runner from second base to home plate in a matter of seconds. After the play, sophomore right-handed pitcher Madison Inscoe came in to pitch and sent Weixlmann into the dugout to rest.
Heading into the seventh inning down 1-0, the Pack desperately needed to score. Junior right fielder Taylor Ensley took charge for the Wolfpack and launched a bomb into center field for her sixth home run of the season. Tied at 1-1, the game was sent into extra innings and pushed the game to the Pack’s longest matchup of the season so far.
The eighth, ninth and 10th innings saw no budging from either squad. NC State was victim to almost three up, and three down innings and could not advance runners on base despite putting in the effort. Eventually, the Yellow Jackets took over in the batter’s box at the top of the 11th and scored three runs off of two hits, pushing the score to 4-1. Given a chance to score at the bottom of the inning, the red-and-white couldn’t counter. Finishing after three hours and 15 minutes, the first game of the doubleheader came to an end with a Georgia Tech win.
Game two
Only half an hour later the two teams faced off again to complete the doubleheader, and Georgia Tech wasted no time getting on the board. Freshman right-handed pitcher Carly Maxton was given the start in the circle and couldn’t stop the momentum the Yellow Jackets built from the end of the first game.
The visitors got on the board in the first inning, scoring off an unearned run. With batters on every base and two outs, Maxton got out of the inning with her only strikeout of the game. NC State didn’t score until the bottom of the third, only after Georgia Tech scored two more runs.
The Wolfpack’s one run of the game came from Taylor Ensley, who singled up the field to bring her sister and freshman left fielder Tori Ensley to home plate. After three innings Maxton was pulled and replaced by Weixlmann, but the redshirt senior’s time at the mound was short-lived as she only pitched two innings.
Georgia Tech scored four runs at the top of the fourth on Weixlmann, all coming from a home run by Mallorie Black. Now down 7-1, NC State started to slip up on offense and couldn’t get past second base with runners. The Yellow Jackets scored one final run at the top of the sixth to put the final score at 8-1.
The Wolfpack has one more game in the series against Georgia Tech, taking on the Yellow Jackets for a final time on Sunday, March 10. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
