NC State baseball suffered a 14-6 defeat to Elon at Doak Field, marking the Pack’s third loss in the last four games.
Like two of its games from its weekend series against Miami, the Wolfpack (14-3) allowed its opponents to build a large lead. While Pack avoided costly fielding errors such as those committed over the weekend, the pitchers struggled early against the Phoenix (10-7).
Elon opened the game with a bang — scoring five runs in the first frame. Sophomore right-hander Jacob Halford was given the start for the Pack on the mound and struggled, walking the first two batters before giving up a single that loaded the bases. A wild pitch brought in the first run, then a couple batters later the Phoenix blasted a three-run homer, taking a 4-0 lead with only one out. Sophomore right-hander Connor Kelly relieved Halford, giving up one more run before the inning ended.
The second inning was just as disastrous for the Wolfpack, giving up another five runs. An RBI single followed by a grand slam from the Phoenix stretched Elon’s lead to 10. Kelly was pulled in favor of freshman right-hander Andrew Shaffner, who helped the Pack escape the inning with no further damage. In the bottom of the frame, NC State loaded the bases but failed to score.
Elon tacked on another run to its total in the third, stretching the lead to 11. However, with Shaffner in the game, Elon’s bats cooled off after a blazing start. The Wolfpack finally got on the board in the bottom of the third when sophomore first baseman Will Marcy hit a solo shot, making the score 11-1.
The Pack started to claw back into the game over the next two innings. After a solo blast from Elon early in the top of the fourth, Shaffner rebounded and finished the inning with no further damage added. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, and with two outs and a full count, junior third baseman LuJames Groover hit a two-RBI single up the middle, cutting the deficit down to single digits. Graduate right fielder Trevor Candelaria then drove in another run with an RBI single, making the score 12-4 after four innings.
Shaffner pitched a relatively clean fifth inning, allowing one base runner and giving up no hits. Shaffner finished the day with a final statline of five strikeouts, two hits and two runs allowed in four innings. In the bottom of the fifth, junior designated hitter Noah Soles and graduate center fielder Parker Nolan hit back-to-back solo home runs, bringing the Pack within six. This was the closest the Wolfpack came to coming back, however, as the team failed to score for the rest of the afternoon.
Over the next three innings, both teams struggled to find any offense, mustering just one hit apiece during the stretch. As each inning passed, NC State’s hopes of a comeback faded. In the final inning of the day, the Phoenix stomped out any chance of a Pack rally with a pair of runs before retiring three consecutive Wolfpack batters to seal the upset.
Falling into large holes early has become a theme for NC State baseball this season. While the team can sometimes rally as it did in a matchup with Radford, the rest of the season will be a struggle if the team continues to flirt with danger, especially in conference play.
NC State will return to the diamond Thursday, March 16 against Virginia at Doak Field. First pitch is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on ACC Network.
