NC State baseball dropped an intense game against South Carolina 6-3 in an electric Founders Park.
The Wolfpack (36-20) found itself in an early hole and was unable to climb back. Despite falling behind, NC State hung around as the Gamecocks (41-19) failed to score after the fifth inning, giving the red-and-white a chance in a game that was hard fought on both sides.
“That was one heck of a ball game with two really good teams,” said South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston. “If you’re wondering what that feels like for coaches in the dugout… a plane with heavy turbulence — you’re saying please just land the plane.”
The game began as a pitcher’s duel, with both starters coming out strong. Junior righty Matt Willadsen struck out four batters in the first two innings, showcasing his ability to punish batters with offspeed pitches. Another strikeout to open the third gave the Pack a strong start to the inning, but things turned south quickly for the red-and-white.
With two outs, Willadsen walked a batter, extending the inning. The Gamecocks then made Willadsen pay by crushing a homer, making the score 2-0. The Wolfpack struggled to respond, as South Carolina’s pitcher, Jack Mahoney, retired six consecutive hitters over the next two innings.
“[Mahoney] was really, really good tonight,” said sophomore left fielder Chase Nixon. “I was impressed with his stuff… we had tough at bats every single inning.”
In the fifth, the Pack found itself in a familiar situation — one out away from escaping an inning, only to give up multiple runs. A string of four walks brought in a run for South Carolina. During this sequence, head coach Elliot Avent pulled Willadsen and elected to bring in sophomore righty Carson Kelly. However, Kelly gave up a two-RBI single, extending the Gamecock lead to five. Another base hit from South Carolina scored an additional run, while also bringing Kelly’s outing to an early close.
“Kelly came in and couldn’t find the zone,” Avent said. “He’s found the zone for the last two months, so that was unusual. This was uncharacteristic of our team to walk — we don’t walk.”
Finding themselves up 6-0, it appeared that the Gamecocks would run away with the victory, but the Wolfpack mustered a rally in the sixth to claw back into the game. WIth two runners on base, sophomore catcher Jacob Cozart hit a single to drive junior third baseman LuJames Groover III home. With newfound momentum, Nixon stepped to the plate and delivered a double to bring two more runs in, making the score 6-3 through six innings.
The next two innings turned out relatively uneventful as neither team could make a dent in the scoreboard. Down to its final inning, NC State rattled off a couple hits to bring the tying run to the plate. A sacrifice fly that resulted in the second out advanced both runners into scoring position. Sophomore second baseman Payton Green stepped to the plate. With the South Carolina crowd roaring, Green popped up a high flyball to end the game.
“They played their tails off, I’m really proud of our guys tonight,” Avent said. “Now we’ve got to do some work.”
NC State will return to Founders park Sunday, June 4 for a rematch with Campbell in an elimination game. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m., and the winner will face South Carolina that evening.
