The NC State baseball team wasn’t going to let the winter weather get in the way of beating North Carolina A&T. The Wolfpack cruised to a 9-1 win on Wednesday night, earning the win behind a strong outing from junior left-hander Brad Stone in his first start of the season.
Snow storms dropped several inches on NC State’s campus and baseball field Tuesday, and grounds crews and even the players and coaches shoveled snow and worked overtime to have the field in good shape to get the game in Wednesday.
“The players got here early and started shoveling snow,” Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent said. “It shows how bad the players want to play. I’m sure they woke up this morning just like me thinking that there wasn’t going to be a baseball game.”
Despite the bitter cold and another impending snow storm hitting the area that night, the weather was the least of the Wolfpack players’ concerns.
“Knowing that the weather is always crazy early in the season is just something that you have to mentally adjust for,” Stone said. “It didn’t factor in too much.”
Stone (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four batters. It was the first start of the 2015 season for Stone, who had made six starts in 2014.
“My slider was my go-to today,” Stone said. “It got me out of trouble in the fifth inning when I threw 12 straight sliders after throwing eight straight fastballs for balls.”
The Charlotte native indeed ran into trouble in the fourth inning, when two Aggies runners stood in scoring position. However, Stone was able to induce an inning ending pop out and the only scoring opportunity for A&T was neutralized.
NC State’s offense was more dangerous.
After threatening in the first inning but failing to score, the Wolfpack struck first in the third inning when sophomore catcher Andrew Knizner cracked a double to deep centerfield, scoring sophomore first baseman Preston Palmeiro from first base.
NC State extended its lead in the fourth and fifth. Aided by walks and wild pitches, the Wolfpack puts runners on second and third in the fourth and loaded the bases in the fifth. The Pack cashed in on a looping single to centerfield by junior Jake Fincher that brought the score to 3-0 in the fourth.
In the fifth, junior shortstop Ryne Willard fought off a 2-2 pitch to line a single into right field with the bases loaded to give the Wolfpack a 4-0 lead. Freshman third baseman broke the game open on the next batter.
Dunand ripped a single through the left side, plating two more runs and giving State a six-run advantage. The lead would be all State needed to put away the Aggies.
The Wolfpack bullpen combination of freshman Tommy DeJuneas, junior Will Gilbert and sophomore Joe O’Donnell pitched three innings to shut the door, allowing only a solo home run in the top of the eighth, and the Wolfpack added three runs in the bottom of the eighth to put a bow on NC State’s fourth win of the season.
“We need to play,” Avent said. “We have a lot of young people who need at-bats. We’re just trying to play right now, so it was good to get this game in.”
The waiting game begins again with State’s weekend games as winter weather hits the Raleigh area again this weekend. Stay tuned to Technician for updates on the weekend’s games.
