NC State baseball defeated the UNC-Greensboro Spartans 6-2 on Tuesday, March 28, at Doak Field in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack (18-7) came into the midweek matinee after dropping two of three games during a series on the road to Boston College, while the Spartans (13-12) came seeking revenge from the previous matchup between these two programs earlier this month. That game produced an offensive outburst for the ages, where the Pack hung up 15 runs, and took all nine innings to put away the Spartans for good.
A rainy evening forecast led to the game being pushed up by two hours, but Wolfpack faithful showed up in droves. The red-and-white were not discouraged by the time change, especially when the Pack jumped out to an early lead and set the tone from the first pitch.
Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Baker Nelson started on the mound for the Pack and delivered an exceptional performance. He faced nine batters over the course of three innings and allowed no hits, walked no batters and struck out five of the nine Spartans he faced.
Meanwhile, the Wolfpack warmed the bats up early as sophomore left fielder Chase Nixon cranked a double into the right center field gap in the bottom of the first inning. The Pack had two men on base at the time, and both were driven through, giving NC State an early two-run lead.
Early on, sophomore catcher Jacob Cozart stepped into the batter’s box to face his brother, Spartan pitcher Caleb Cozart, and the fans at The Doak were treated to a ‘family feud.’ The two brothers went up against each other twice, with the Wolfpack catcher getting a hit on the initial faceoff and the UNCG pitcher retiring his brother on the second.
“All I was thinking was what he would say to me if I hit this ball out,” Cozart said. “He started me off with the fast ball, and I knew he was going to immediately go to the change up. I kinda was sitting on it, put a good swing on it and it just didn’t happen to go out… I gave him a little bit of chirping after [too].”
In the top of the fourth inning, UNCG got on the scorecard itself. With one Spartan on base, graduate center fielder Parker Nolan dropped a deep fly ball on the warning track. This untimely error put two men in scoring position, and a few plays later, a single scored two runs, tying the game.
After the error, a strange series of events led to a trio of Wolfpack runs. Junior third baseman LuJames Groover safely reached first after a UNCG throwing error to start the frame. Then, Jacob Cozart hit a single up the middle, allowing Groover to reach home and help the Pack seize the lead once again.
To finish the inning, freshman first baseman Eli Serrano laid down a bunt down the third base line which allowed sophomore shortstop Payton Green to score, and after the fifth inning, the Wolfpack held a 5-2 lead.
Junior left handed pitcher Rio Britton was credited with his first win as a member of the Pack. Britton was well deserving of this win, especially once he took the mound after UNCG scored its first two runs. Britton followed Nelson’s impressive start with a clinic of his own, striking out three batters while allowing zero walks and zero earned runs.
Head coach Elliot Avent was thrilled with the team’s play after a quick turnaround from a tough series against Boston College.
“We played very, very well,” Avent said. “…We did not practice yesterday, we came back extremely late from Boston with a double header on Sunday… They were tired, and they came out with a lot of energy. It says a lot about them. I thought we played a clean game, thought we played a good game, and I thought we did a lot of things well.”
Serrano left his mark on the game in the bottom of the seventh when the first baseman crushed a homer over the wall, extending the Pack’s lead to four runs, concluding scoring for the day.
The Wolfpack returns to action this Friday, March 31 at Doak Field at Dail Park. Friday marks the beginning of a home series against the Louisville Cardinals, and first pitch is set for 6 p.m.
