It was a day to remember for the three seniors honored on Saturday afternoon as center fielder Rebecca Murray, left fielder Katlyn Pavlick and first baseman Libby Whittaker all potentially played their last home game in the red-and-white against in-state rival, ECU. The Wolfpack and Pirates split the two-game series 4-2 and 1-4 with the Pack taking the opening game and ECU striking back in the second.

The Pirates’ bats got hot early as they recorded a hit on each of the first two at-bats. A single followed up by a double advanced graduate student center fielder Taudrea Sinnie to third base with no outs. A sac-fly would earn Sinnie and the Pirates the game’s first run. It wouldn’t take long for ECU to reach their second run of the game where a double would get Sinnie back to home plate and double the Pirate’s lead in the top of the third.

The Wolfpack did not plan on going down without a fight and answered in a big way at the bottom of the third. Freshman MaKayla Marbury singled to left center field before Murray earned a walk, putting runners on first and second with two outs. 

Freshman catcher Amanda Hasler stepped up to the plate and homered the ball to center field giving the Pack its first lead of the game. With the three-run homerun, Hasler now leads the team with RBIs on the season, an impressive achievement for a freshman.

In the following inning, Marbury singled again to bring home NC State’s fourth and final run of the first game. At the top of the fifth, redshirt-junior pitcher Aisha Weixlmann would take the mound and shut down the Pirates, only giving up one hit in three innings pitched. 

After a strong performance in the 4-2 victory to open the series, the Pack was bested by the Pirates in the second game thanks to a four-run fourth inning from the Pirates. 

Unlike the first game, NC State got on the board first thanks to a single from junior right fielder Gracie Roberts that let junior second baseman Kaylee Lambrecht earn the first run of the game in the second inning. By the end of the frame, the Pack had five hits, but the team struggled the rest of the way and failed to record another hit during the rest of the game. 

In the fourth inning, the Pirates earned as many hits as the Wolfpack did for the entire game which propelled them to victory. A homer to left field and a double to right-center earned ECU both earned two RBIs each. Afterwards, both offenses slowed to a halt and the score remained through the final out.

To close a turbulent season, the Wolfpack hit the road to face ACC opponent Pittsburgh in a three-game series starting Friday, May 5.