After dropping its first game against Syracuse on Thursday, April 6, NC State softball bounced back in a low-scoring affair to come away with its only win of the weekend.
The Wolfpack (14-26, 5-10 ACC) won its second bout with the Orange (12-18-1, 3-10-1 ACC) on April 7 by a final score of 3-2, followed by a blowout 8-0 loss in five innings on April 8.
Friday’s game saw an early home run in the top of the first inning from sophomore third baseman Hannah Goodwin, which gave the Pack an early lead that Syracuse was never able to overcome. Goodwin’s home run set the tone for the remainder of the game after the team failed to hit any beyond the fence the day prior.
Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Aisha Weixlmann started on the mound and stayed there, pitching for all seven innings. Weixlmann struck out five Syracuse batters and gave up no home runs to hold the Orange to two runs.
Weixlmann and freshman right-hander Madison Inscoe have been sources of consistency in what has been a shaky season thus far for NC State.
Junior right fielder Gracie Roberts added to the scoring total in the top of the third inning, hitting the second Wolfpack home run of the day. The scoring wouldn’t pick up again until the final inning when graduate center fielder Rebecca Murray hit the third and final red-and-white home run to boost the score to 3-0.
Syracuse loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning, which the team was able to convert into its first two scores of the game. This last-second effort was too little, too late for the Orange as the Pack hauled in a fly ball for the third and final out to secure the win before Syracuse could tie the game.
The win did not translate into success in the third and final game of this weekend series — the Pack was defeated handily, falling in five innings after scoring no runs for the ninth time this season.
Inscoe drew the start in this one, giving up five runs and three hits in one and a half innings before Weixlmann took the mound. Weixlmann also struggled, giving up a two-run home run on her first pitch that put the Wolfpack down 6-0 early in the contest.
The third inning was more of the same as the Pack struggled to get on base and its pitching woes continued, giving up four hits and two runs to go down 8-0 in three innings. Weixlmann was taken out of the game late in the third inning for the final Syracuse at-bat in favor of freshman right-handed pitcher Wynne Gore.
Gore didn’t give up any runs in the fourth inning, but the game didn’t extend past the top of the fifth inning with the Pack recording zero hits throughout the entire game, resulting in the 8-0 loss.
The Pack will take a brief pause from ACC play to take on USC-Upstate at Dail Stadium on April 11. First Pitch is set for 5 p.m.
