NC State softball opened its season with a doubleheader against Kansas and Long Beach State at the Candrea Classic, which includes five games between Feb. 10-12. Early struggles doomed the Pack against the Jayhawks during its season-opener. The same could be said in its second game as the Pack fell to Long Beach State as well.
The Pack kicked off the afternoon by taking on the Kansas Jayhawks in a game where the bats on both sides truly came to life. In her collegiate debut, freshman righty Rylee Wyman did not have the best outing as the Jayhawks were able to quickly get on the base with four runs in the first inning.
Kansas continued to punish the Pack in the third inning when first baseman Olivia Bruno connected with her second homer of the day, extending the Jayhawks’ lead to 5-0. Another run was driven in soon after which grew the lead to six.
The Pack continued to struggle defensively going into the fourth as the Jayhawks quickly put two on base. In an effort to revive the team, redshirt junior righty Aisha Weixlmann entered the game. However, she did not immediately impact the game as Kansas compiled five more runs by the end of the inning. Facing a possible mercy rule, the Pack desperately needed a spark to light the team.
The Pack’s offense finally sprung to life in the bottom of the fourth thanks to sophomore second baseman Taylor Ensley, who stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. She smacked a single which helped drive in the Pack’s first two runs. The Pack finally started to gain some momentum as a Jayhawk error helped bring in two more runs off the bat of junior shortstop Kaylee Lambrecht. Before the inning had concluded, two more NC State runs had crossed the plate and the deficit was cut to a more reasonable distance of 11-6.
Weixlmann was instrumental in helping shut down Kansas as she finished with only allowing two runs and compiling a respectable five strikeouts. After the fourth, the Jayhawks seemingly had no answer for her as they were only able to score once. However, the Pack’s offense could not take advantage as they went scoreless for the remainder of the game and Kansas took the game 12-6.
In its second game of the afternoon, the Pack took on the Long Beach State Sharks. In complete contrast to its first game of the afternoon, the team’s offense truly came at a premium in this contest. The Pack did not have an answer for right-handed pitcher Samantha Fowler as she played six complete innings and tossed nine strikeouts en route to a 4-2 Long Beach State victory.
Throughout the first two innings, neither team was able to find much success swinging the bat. After a slow start to the game, the Sharks broke through in the third inning against freshman righty Madison Inscoe, who was also making her collegiate debut. Long Beach State scored a pair of runs which sparked their momentum. They continued to add to their lead in the next few innings, putting the Wolfpack down 4-0 by the end of the fifth inning.
In the fifth, freshman righty Wynne Gore came into the game. She was instrumental in helping slow down the Sharks as she did not allow them to score for the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, the Pack’s bats remained relatively quiet until the seventh inning when they were able to finally put pressure on Fowler, who had been rolling until then. Graduate center fielder Rebecca Murray came to the plate with the bases loaded and drove in a run. Then another run came off the bat of freshman right fielder Makayla Marbury. However, it was not enough as the Pack dropped its second game of the day.
The Candrea Classic will continue on Saturday, Feb. 11 with another doubleheader for the Pack. They will face Kansas again at 2 p.m. and Arizona at 5 p.m.
