Only 30% of NCAA Division I Softball teams win 30 games in a season, and with a series sweep over Pittsburgh, the Wolfpack joins that group. A 6-18 conference record doesn’t tell the full story for this NC State team, which has battled and kept games close all season despite the odds being stacked against them.
“Our record doesn’t represent who we have become and what we have done,” said head coach Lindsay Leftwich. “I understand where we’re headed, where we’re trying to be and where we’ve grown from and it’s definitely not enough and not how we wanted to finish the year, but I am proud that they found a way to fight through it here at the end.”
With a 9-2 and 8-4 double-header pair of wins on Friday, the Pack (30-23, 6-18) beat Pitt (17-32, 6-18) to earn its first ACC series win of the season. Then on Saturday, the red-and-white completed the sweep with a tight-fought 4-2 win over the Panthers.
The Pack’s in-conference strength of schedule was one of, if not the toughest in the ACC this year. State played all of the top six teams in the ACC and by the end of the season, five of them were ranked in the top 30 nationally.
Its series against Pitt marked just the second time they played an ACC team in the bottom half of the conference this season. Over the course of the three games, the Pack trailed for less than half an inning.
Although less than a third of the team is made up of upper-classmen, they brought the firepower during the final week of the season. Through the first two games of the series, junior right fielder Taylor Ensley went 4-6 from the batter’s box, including a home run and three runs scored.
Honored before the start of the first game alongside senior outfielder Gracie Roberts and redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Aisha Weixlmann on Friday was senior second baseman Kaylee Lambrecht.
After recording just one hit through the first two games, in the season finale, the senior left her mark on the program. On the first of her two hits of the game, Lambrecht singled up the middle to record her 100th career hit. She went on to record another single in the sixth to bring home the final run of the season.
“She struggled through a little bit at the beginning of the year so it was really cool to see her just keep pushing,” Leftwich said. “So for her to come out and swing big there on the last day it was awesome, a tip-your-hat moment.”
The veteran presence on Senior Day weekend combined with the young guns firing on all cylinders lifted the Pack to three solid wins.
Sophomore catcher Amanda Hasler added two more home runs and three RBIs to bring her totals on the season to 18 and 45 respectively. Both figures lead the team as the sophomore has taken big strides at the plate. From her freshman season, Hasler doubled her home-run numbers and tacked 17 more RBIs.
Another second-year who had an impressive two days was sophomore center fielder Ellie Goins, who had three RBIs, including a two-run homer in game three to break a 0-0 deadlock in the fourth inning.
All weekend, Goins had center field marked as a no-fly zone as she made multiple warning-track catches and a highlight-reel effort to keep Pitt from scoring. Her effort in the field makes it hard to leave her out for Gold Glove considerations.
Unable to grab a win against Duke during the weekend prior, NC State’s season concluded for the second year in a row against Pitt and before the ACC Tournament. The results weren’t always there for this young squad and a first-year head coach, but don’t be surprised if this team is battling for a top ACC seed next spring.
“We learned a lot,” Leftwich said. “You challenge the returners that you never want to feel this way again, you never want to be done on May 4 ever.”
