The NC State softball team ended their fall season with a shutout against Elon in their Friday night doubleheader in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack (8-0) defeated Elon 9-3 in the first game and 4-0 in the second match.
“It felt great [going undefeated],” senior Lana Van Dyken said. “Our team looked really good. We obviously have some work to do but as of right now we’re off to a really good start.”
Junior pitcher Courtney Mirabella threw five innings for the Pack and was relieved by sophomore Harli Hubbard in the bottom of the sixth. Mirabella struck out three Elon batters before retiring.
Freshman Cheyenne Blazer scored the first run for the Pack in the second inning. Elon struck back with two runs in the third.
Junior Hanna Sommer helped tie the score at two by hitting a solo homerun in the fourth inning. The Phoenix were eager to break the tie and scored a run in the fifth.
NC State caught up by making three runs, two of which were made by junior Molly Hutchison and sophomore Meredith Burroughs. The score was 5-3 going into the fifth inning stretch.
Junior Tyler Ross knocked it out of the park when she assisted a three person homerun in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 8-3.
Freshman Brittany Nimmo batted in the ninth run of the game and collected the win for the Wolfpack 9-3.
In the second game of the doubleheader, NC State and Elon fought to score but it wasn’t until the fifth inning when the Pack ended the stalemate and scored its first run on junior Hannah Yeager’s solo home run.
“We just needed one hit to get us going,” Van Dyken said. “I think we came out a little too aggressive and just needed to let balls come to us. We still had good swings.”
Ross came out strong again and gained a two-person run in the bottom of the sixth inning putting State at a 3-0 lead. Van Dyken scored off of Ross’s hit.
Burroughs had a solo home run making the score 4-0 which remained the final score.
Nimmo pitched game two for NC State striking out seven batters with only one walk.
“They’re [Mirabella and Nimmo] working really hard and it obviously shows,” Van Dyken said. “They have some pretty big shoes to fill with Emily [Weiman] gone but as of right now they’re handling it well. I’m excited to see where they take our team.”
The Wolfpack went undefeated this fall season against Campbell University, Pitt Community College, Longwood and Elon.
“As a team we just need to focus on getting stronger and faster,” Van Dyken said. “We need to be able to get balls we miss in the infield and hit even harder than we have before. I would like to see us get those unfamiliar plays down pat. We can make sure we’re ready for any play that gets thrown at us.”
The spring season schedule will be released in the next few weeks.
