NC State softball barely survived a midweek matchup against the USC-Upstate Spartans, winning by a score of 2-0. Freshman right-handed pitcher Rylee Wyman was the star of this game as she logged her first career shutout.
The Wolfpack (15-26) came into this week looking to improve after losing an ACC series against Syracuse. The Spartans (28-13) came to Raleigh hoping to bounce back after losing two games in a row, and for the first few innings it looked to be anybody’s game.
Wyman played all seven innings for NC State — the first complete game of her career — only allowing one walk and adding three more strikeouts to her season total. She joins an elite group of NC State pitchers as the first Wolfpack freshman to pitch a shutout since 2019 and posted the second shutout of the season for the Pack.
It was a rough day in the batter’s box for both teams with the first four innings going scoreless. By the end of the game, the Wolfpack put up five hits while USC-Upstate tallied six. NC State had more scoring opportunities, though, finishing the game with a total of seven runners left on base. Meanwhile, the Spartans failed to advance past second base at any point in the game despite recording one more hit than the Wolfpack.
Another star for the Wolfpack was sophomore third baseman Hannah Goodwin, who tallied her sixth home run of the season with a rocket over the wall in the bottom of the fifth inning. This also sent junior second baseman Kaylee Lambrechet home, giving the Pack its only runs of the day.
Notably, junior first baseman Haley Haislip recorded a team-high eight putouts in the game, just one less than her career-high, while freshman catcher Amanda Hasler and sophomore shortstop Taylor Ensley added three each themselves. Additionally, junior right fielder Gracie Roberts nailed her first career triple in the bottom of the sixth inning but was robbed of the opportunity to score when the Spartans made it out of the inning with a third out.
With this win, the red-and-white moves to 10-16 in non-conference play.
The Pack will return to the field hoping to build upon this win on Friday, April 14, when it faces off against the Clemson Tigers in its ACC series-opener.
