The NC State baseball team dropped its series opener to the Miami Hurricanes 9-8 on Friday, March 10 in Coral Gables, Florida.
The Wolfpack (13-1, 0-1 ACC) got off to a rocky start, but despite the large hole began to battle back over the course of the game. After tying the score late in the game, the momentum appeared to be on the Pack’s side, but the Hurricanes (9-5, 1-0 ACC) soon responded and retook the lead for good.
After throwing a scoreless first inning, redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Logan Whitaker struggled in the second as Miami hopped onto the scoreboard with an RBI single, then kept it coming as Ian Farrow crushed a three-run homer to put the Canes up 4-0.
That was far from the only damage that came in the inning as an NC State fielding error brought home another Miami run, and soon after, Edgardo Villegas crushed another three-run homer to extend Miami’s lead to 8-0. Facing a daunting deficit, one may have assumed the Pack was doomed.
With two Miami runners on base in the third, junior lefty John Miralia relieved Whitaker and helped end the inning without giving up any more runs. Over the course of the next three innings, NC State held Miami scoreless largely due to Miralia and other relief pitchers.
Perhaps the most impressive relief performance came on the back of sophomore righty Carson Kelly, who helped keep Miami at bay with an impressive five strikeouts in two innings. Redshirt senior righty Baker Nelson was also on point with three strikeouts of his own.
Meanwhile, the NC State bats began to wake up. In the fourth inning, junior right fielder Noah Soles hit a double to get things going and later scored on a Miami throwing error, putting the Pack on the board. Not long after, junior third baseman LuJames Groover drove in Green on a sacrifice fly to cut the Miami lead to six.
The momentum continued to shift in NC State’s favor in the fifth as the Pack quickly loaded the bases — two batters were struck by pitches and one drew a walk. Soles capitalized on this opportunity, hitting a sacrifice fly to bring home freshman first baseman Eli Serrano III.
The scoring continued in the sixth as the Pack continued to show its adeptness at hitting against the shift. Graduate center fielder Trevor Candelaria and freshman designated hitter Cannon Peebles managed to get on base, and soon after, sophomore catcher Jacob Cozart smoked a single to bring home both and set the score at 8-5.
The Pack’s offense continued to heat up in the top of the seventh as Green and Candelaria got on base, setting the stage as Peebles returned to the plate. Riding on the momentum of a strong performance this week, he drilled a three-run homer to tie the game 8-8.
While the momentum was completely flipped in the Pack’s favor, the Canes soon responded as Farrow continued his monster night with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, interrupting an otherwise solid performance by Nelson. After Miami regained the lead, the NC State pitching staff prevented any further damage with three strikeouts, but the Wolfpack couldn’t capitalize on this solid defensive play, failing to put a runner across home plate in the last two innings.
Despite falling into a large hole early on, the Pack battled back over the course of the game. Momentum seemed to be on its side for the majority of the game before it shifted back in favor of the Hurricanes in the back end of the game.
NC State will look to bounce back in game two when the Pack takes on Miami at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra.
