No. 13 NC State baseball started its series in paradise with an explosive 17-12 win over the Rainbow Warriors in Hawaii.
Despite another sluggish start from graduate right-handed pitcher Sam Highfill, graduate third baseman Alec Makarewicz crushed his first homer of the day — a third-inning grand slam — to even the odds. Late in the game, the Pack erupted for an eight-run seventh inning to secure the series-opening win in Honolulu.
The Rainbow Warriors said “aloha” to Highfill in the first inning with a three-run ambush. Back-to-back walks and a hit batter prompted an early mound visit from head coach Elliott Avent. Highfill got a grip after the meeting, but Hawaii still got its licks in. Two sac-flies and an RBI-double from Hawaii put the Wolfpack in an early 3-0 hole.
After two scoreless innings, NC State rallied back in the third frame. Three straight singles brought Makarewicz to the plate with the bases loaded, and the graduate didn’t think twice about tanking the Pack’s first grand slam of the season over the right field wall.
With the Rainbow Warriors reeling from Makarewicz’s long ball, NC State kept its foot on the gas, putting up a four-run inning in the fourth. A stolen base from junior shortstop Brandon Butterworth got the Wolfpack within striking distance and graduate first baseman Garrett Pennington delivered with a right-field double.
With a runner on third, the Wolfpack added one more run via a groundout. Hawaii pitcher Alex Giroux did his best to keep the damage to a minimum, but with Makarewicz back at the plate it was easier said than done. The graduate hacked his second homer of the day, scoring two and running up the score to 8-3.
However, Hawaii didn’t go easily. The Rainbow Warriors retaliated with a four-run fifth inning, ending Highfill’s day after they scored with no-outs and multiple runners on base. Senior left-handed pitcher P.J. Labriola was tasked with slowing down Hawaii, but the Rainbow Warriors only turned up the heat. They jumped on Labriola for three hits and two earned runs, prompting another pitching change from Avent.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Shane Van Dam did the job for Avent, forcing a double play and a groundout to keep NC State’s lead intact. While that lead was small at 8-7, the Wolfpack exploded for a monstrous eight runs in the seventh frame to put the game out of reach.
A triple from sophomore left fielder Josh Hogue — who tallied four total hits and two RBIs — scored one right away. From there, two more NC State singles brought in another three runs for the Wolfpack. Frustrating whoever the Rainbow Warriors assigned to the mound, the red-and-white kept the onslaught going with a double from Pennington, who ended his day with three hits and three RBIs.
The second Hogue RBI-single of the inning brought one more to the plate while a single from sophomore second baseman Matt Heavner finished off the Wolfpack’s seventh-inning splash.
Hawaii battled back once before, but a 16-7 deficit was too much to overcome. The Rainbow Warriors scored one in the bottom of the seventh only to be matched by an RBI-single from sophomore center fielder Eli Serrano.
With redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Logan Whitaker seeing a bulk of the Pack’s late-inning work, NC State held onto its large lead despite an admirable effort from the home side. The Rainbow Warriors put up four runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Whitaker held on long enough to earn his first win of the season.
NC State totaled a whopping 20 hits in the series opener against Hawaii and will face off against the Rainbow Warriors again on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 11:35 p.m.
