NC State baseball failed to clinch a series sweep over No. 9 Duke, falling 13-2 in a game that concluded in the seventh inning due to the mercy run rule.
After clinching a series win yesterday in dramatic fashion, NC State (15-7, 5-4 ACC) was not able to build off of it. Two large innings from Duke (17-7, 4-5 ACC) helped balloon the deficit which proved too much for the Pack. Despite a disappointing finish, graduate third baseman Alec Makarewicz put together an effective day at the plate which included a two-homerun performance that was part of a 3-3 effort at the plate.
“He’s just a steady, steady competitor, and he had a good day against a really good pitching staff,” said head coach Elliott Avent.
The seventh inning in particular proved to be the ultimate catalyst for Duke: the Blue Devils sent seven runners across the plate. The action began with a base hit that drove in a batter who was hit by a pitch. Blue Devils’ catcher Alex Stone followed this by hitting his second homer of the game, adding two more runs to its score.
Duke did not let up — two singles and a walk helped load the bases afterward. The Blue Devils further capitalized when Zac Morris unloaded a grand slam to put the game even further out of reach.
The Pack made some noise in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and looking to avoid an early end to the action. However, the team came up empty-handed as it brought forth a conclusion to the afternoon.
From the first pitch, both teams wasted little time getting settled into the game. In the top of the first inning, a walk and a hit by pitch immediately opened an opportunity. Duke collected a base hit which was followed by a fielding error, allowing one run to cross home. In the bottom of the inning, NC State followed suit and tied the game at 1-1 as Makarewicz unloaded a homer.
After allowing an early run, sophomore left-handed pitcher Dominic Fritton began to settle in on the mound. After pitching two frames of scoreless baseball, the fourth inning began to spell trouble as Stone crushed his first homer of the day to deep center field. The Blue Devils got another baserunner soon after which was driven home.
To cap off the huge inning, Morris brought that runner home through his first home run of the day. This spelled the end of Fritton’s day on the mound as a tough fourth inning ultimately spoiled an otherwise effective day on the bump as he tossed five strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fourth, NC State felt the need to respond to the Duke surge. It got an answer from Makarewicz who crushed his second solo shot of the afternoon to cut the deficit to 5-2.
“The last couple of days obviously I struggled and got back in the cage with [assistant coach Bo Robinson] and told me what I needed to adjust,” Makarewicz said. “… I just had to focus and make those adjustments, so worked out well today.”
In the fifth, senior righty Hollis Fanning took over as he got off to a solid start and he forced a scoreless frame. In the sixth, Duke added to its lead as Devin Obee hit a homer which was one of five dingers for the Blue Devils on the afternoon. However, Fanning retired the remaining batters to limit the damage. However, much like Fritton, a strong first few innings gave way to a tough inning which put a damper on his performance.
Even though the Pack suffered a crushing defeat in the series finale, NC State has much to be optimistic about. After a frustrating 0-4 stretch last week, which saw it drop from the top 25, the red-and-white rebounded with a midweek win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina and now has a series win over No. 9 Duke under its belt.
“It’s a good thing you got yesterday’s game,” Avent said. “… [It] shows how important getting yesterday’s game and that comeback was in the ninth because otherwise you lose the series and you want to win the series against obviously a very good Duke baseball team.”
NC State baseball will return to action on Tuesday, March 26, as it travels to take on UNC-Greensboro. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
