In its first weekend of action without former head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, NC State softball dropped all three of its games in Blacksburg, Virginia against the Hokies.
On Wednesday, March 2, NC State (5-13, 0-3 ACC) relieved Patrick-Swift of her duties to take the program in a new direction. Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, matching up against the No. 10 team in the nation right after a coaching change was a recipe for disaster. Virginia Tech (14-4, 3-0 ACC) proved too much to handle for an NC State team in search of a new identity.
Game one of the series set a dire tone for the rest of the Wolfpack’s weekend as the team fell 7-0 on Friday, March 3 to open up conference play. The Hokies put up four runs in the bottom of the first inning to establish their dominance over the red-and-white, eventually tacking on a run in the second and two more in the fifth frame.
Graduate center fielder Rebecca Murray was the only member of the Pack to record a hit, totaling two in game one. Graduate left fielder Katlyn Pavlick was the only other NC State player to make it on base, which she achieved via a walk in the top of the seventh inning.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Madison Inscoe got the start in game one, pitching three innings and giving up six hits, five runs, two walks and four errors with no strikeouts. Needing a change for any chance at mounting a comeback, redshirt junior righty Aisha Weixlmann made her way to the mound for the final three innings — allowing three hits, two runs and one error with one strikeout on 37 pitches.
Game two saw a slight improvement from NC State’s bats, but the Hokies held consistent with a 7-3 win to take the series. Murray and Pavlick once again paved the way in the hitting department, each recording a hit with Murray adding three RBIs and a run to her stat line. Inscoe and freshman second baseman Nadia Sykes joined the contributions to the offense, also adding a hit apiece with Sykes recording a run of her own.
Virginia Tech’s pitching tandem of Lyndsey Grein and Emma Lemley did well to remain composed when Wolfpack batters began making contact, combining to strike out nine batters and only giving up four hits.
Weixlmann got the start in game two, falling in the same hole she found herself in previously. In one inning on the mound, she allowed three runs on three hits with three errors and a strikeout. In her relief, the tandem of freshman right-handed pitchers Rylee Wyman and Wynne Gore made appearances on the mound, but neither fared much better en route to NC State’s second loss of the weekend.
The final game of the series was the worst of the bunch for NC State, who was sent back to the bus after only six innings. Through the first four frames of the day, the Wolfpack was looking competitive in a 3-1 contest, but a sixth-inning explosion from Virginia Tech wrapped the weekend’s action up with a 10-1 NC State loss.
Murray, Pavlick and Inscoe continued to be the most consistent batters for the Pack, with Pavlick sending one over the wall for the Wolfpack’s only run of the day.
Inscoe once again got the nod to start on the mound in game three and battled well to keep the game competitive through her four innings. On 57 pitches, the freshman gave up five hits and three runs with three errors and three strikeouts. Wyman and Gore found themselves in to relieve the starter in the series finale, letting things slip away from the red-and-white with a combined seven runs allowed on three hits with no strikeouts.
NC State returns to action with a midweek doubleheader against North Carolina Central at Dail Softball Stadium on Wednesday, March 8. Game times are set for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. as the Wolfpack continues to search for new energy since losing its coach.
