After a rocky start to the Purple & Gold Challenge on Friday, March 31, NC State softball wasn’t messing around on April Fools Day in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Instead, the Wolfpack (13-23) took the fight to its competition in a close 1-0 loss to BYU (17-9) and in a 5-0 shutout win over Louisiana Tech (21-14) in the Bayou. The Pack had an impressive day on the mound — only letting by one run through both games — and found its footing offensively against the Bulldogs in the second leg of the doubleheader.
BYU
After suffering a 12-0 thrashing to the No. 14 LSU Tigers in its previous outing, NC State needed a get-right game. And even though the Pack suffered a 1-0 loss to BYU in its early game, it was still a step in the right direction for the red-and-white.
In fact, NC State was just a step behind the Cougars all game long. However, BYU’s pitching duo of Alyssa Aguilar and Ailana Agbayani plagued the Pack in all seven innings, restricting the red-and-white to a measly three hits.
Meanwhile, freshman right-handed pitcher Madison Inscoe tossed a gem of her own for the Wolfpack. Inscoe pitched all seven innings, throwing three strikeouts while only allowing five hits. But while the Cougars rarely got the better of Inscoe, they were able to tack one run on the board with a double in the fifth inning, which would later prove to be the winning run.
After failing to score in either of its games on the previous day, NC State still couldn’t gain any traction on offense against BYU. As chances to score continued to pass by, it was clear that getting a tying, or much less a winning run across the plate would be a difficult task, no matter how much Inscoe was dealing on the mound.
Ultimately, NC State was never able to sort out its offensive issues — not until its game against the Bulldogs, at least — leading to a 1-0 loss in the pitcher’s duel.
Louisiana Tech
The Wolfpack seemingly snapped out of its funk in the second half of the doubleheader. One day before, LA Tech shut out NC State 2-0, but the Pack was determined to give the Bulldogs a taste of their own medicine and shut them out this time.
It was here that it all came together for the red-and-white — the offense had finally caught up with the impressive pitching and defense from the earlier game, allowing for a comfortable 5-0 win.
Like Inscoe hours before, redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Aisha Weixlmann threw the Pack’s second complete game of the day. She even one-upped her fellow arm by flaming five strikeouts, only allowing two hits and leading her squad to the shutout.
For the first time in the tournament, NC State’s bats woke up. While the Pack was able to get on base early on, it wasn’t until the fourth inning that the red-and-white got on the board. With a runner on, graduate left fielder Katlyn Pavlick crushed a two-run jack down the left field line to score NC State’s first runs of the weekend.
From there, the Wolfpack didn’t rest on its laurels, bringing in another run in the next inning while Weixlmann continued to deal on the mound. Once the bottom of the sixth rolled around, Pavlick proved that she wasn’t satisfied with just the one home run. With junior first baseman Haley Haislip on first after a single, Pavlick crushed her second homer of the day to notch another two runs on the scoreboard, bringing her RBI total to four.
After splitting its doubleheader and dominating its opponents on defense, NC State looks to finish off the Purple & Gold Challenge strong with its final game against LSU on Sunday, April 2 at 1 p.m.
