NC State Athletics persevered through a number of ups and downs this week, highlighted by the wrestling squad’s fifth-consecutive ACC championship win. Meanwhile, both basketball teams faced setbacks as the baseball team and both tennis squads extended their win streaks.
Baseball remains undefeated
NC State baseball won all five of its games this week, extending its win streak to 12 and remaining undefeated on the season despite some close calls. The Pack faced off against Longwood Lancers and the Radford Highlanders earlier in the week before hosting a three-game series against the NJIT Highlanders over the weekend.
The red-and-white demolished the Lancers 14-0 in its first game of the week and third shutout win of the season. After the Wolfpack hit two home runs in the first inning alone, Longwood could only watch as the Pack continued to find success at the plate and put on a strong defensive performance to keep the Lancers from scoring. The next day’s game against Radford was an entirely different story — the Pack went down 6-1 in the fourth inning before staging a late comeback to win 9-7 and prevent an upset.
Over the weekend, the Wolfpack was just as inconsistent. After defeating NJIT 21-2 in the first game and 9-2 in the second, NC State pulled off another comeback victory, beating the Highlanders 6-5. A two-run, walk-off homer from sophomore shortstop Payton Green at the bottom of the ninth inning allowed the Pack to secure the series sweep.
Read more about the Pack’s series-opener against NJIT.
Read more about the red-and-white’s series-clinching win over the Highlanders.
Read more about the Wolfpack’s final game against NJIT.
Read more about NC State’s comeback win over Radford.
Read more about the Pack’s shutout win over Longwood.
Gymnastics tallies numerous season-high performances against Rutgers
NC State gymnastics hosted Rutgers on Saturday, March 4 for its last home meet of the season. The Pack went out with a bang, defeating the Scarlet Knights by one point with a season-high overall score of 197.225.
Multiple gymnasts set season-high and career-high scores across the four rotations, but the most notable was undoubtedly senior Chloe Negrete’s 9.975 on the floor. Negrete’s impressive score contributed to a season-high team score of 49.625 on the floor. Junior Gabrielle Diaz and sophomore Lauren Rutherford also made big contributions, scoring 9.900 and 9.950, respectively.
Read more about the Pack’s last home meet of the season.
Men’s basketball falls to Duke
NC State men’s basketball closed out the regular season on a low note with a tough 71-67 loss to the Duke Blue Devils. The game was played on Duke’s home court, which undoubtedly played a role in the loss considering the Blue Devils haven’t lost at home all season.
Despite the loss, graduate guard Jarkel Joiner recorded a game-high 26 points on 50% shooting from the field and hit the 2,000-point milestone. However, Joiner’s heroic efforts weren’t enough as subpar performances from his supporting cast kept the win just out of reach.
Read more about the Pack’s loss to Duke.
Softball swept by Virginia Tech
NC State softball got off to an unfortunate start to ACC play this weekend, getting swept 3-0 in a weekend series against the Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg, Virginia. These games were the Pack’s first without former head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, who was dismissed on Wednesday, March 2. Over the course of the weekend, the Pack lost 7-0, 7-3 and 10-1.
Read more about the Pack’s series against the Hokies.
Women’s tennis extends win streak to eight
NC State women’s tennis continued to dominate this week, adding wins against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Clemson Tigers and the ETSU Buccaneers to its already-impressive resume.
Unsurprisingly, the Pack played its closed match of the week against the Yellow Jackets, narrowly slipping past them 4-3 on its home court. After NC State secured the doubles points, the two teams battled back and forth in the singles matches before No. 17 junior Amelia Rajecki earned the red-and-white’s fourth and final win of the day.
In its doubleheader against the Tigers and the Buccaneers, the Pack had no trouble putting away its opponents, winning by scores of 6-1 and 7-0, respectively.
Read more about NC State’s ranked win over Georgia Tech.
Read more about the Pack’s matches against Clemson and ETSU.
Men’s tennis dominates in ACC play
NC State men’s tennis moved to 2-0 in ACC this week, collecting wins against Clemson and Georgia Tech. The Pack swept the Tigers 4-0 and defeated the Yellow Jackets 4-2. In both matches, the Pack dominated in doubles play to earn the early point and went on to win three singles matches to secure the victory.
Read more about NC State’s ACC opener against Clemson.
Read more about the Pack’s win over Georgia Tech.
Women’s basketball loses in quarterfinals of ACC tournament
NC State women’s basketball was unsuccessful in its quest for a fourth-consecutive ACC tournament title this week. The Pack defeated Syracuse Orange 83-58 in the second round before falling to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 66-60 in the quarterfinals.
Thursday’s game against the Orange gave the Wolfpack faithful a reason to hope — the red-and-white played some of the best team basketball it’s played all year, easily manipulating Syracuse’s zone defense to create easy shots around the rim. NC State scored a season-high 54 points in the paint, an impressive feat for a team that typically relies on its 3-point shooting to win games.
Against Notre Dame, the Wolfpack’s season-long struggle to find consistency was on full display. The Pack took an 18-14 lead after one quarter, but only scored four points in the second frame, putting the red-and-white down 25-22 at the half and giving the Irish the momentum they needed to come out swinging after the break. Notre Dame led by as much as 14 in the fourth quarter, and NC State’s attempt to comeback wasn’t enough to lift the team out of the hole it had dug for itself.
Read more about the Pack’s second round win over Syracuse.
Read more about NC State’s loss to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.
Wrestling wins ACC championship at Reynolds
NC State wrestling collected its fifth-consecutive ACC championship title on Sunday, March 5, establishing its dominance in the league after having to share the regular season title. The Pack hosted the championship at Reynolds Coliseum and did not disappoint the overwhelming number of Wolfpack fans that came out to support.
NC State’s redshirt junior Trent Hidlay, redshirt sophomore Owen Trephan, redshirt junior Jarrett Trombley and redshirt sophomore Kai Orine each earned individual ACC titles in their respective weight classes. As if these four first-place finishes weren’t enough, five other Wolfpack athletes made it onto the podium as well.
