State sweeps Boston College to open conference

With two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the fifth inning and N.C. State trailing 6-5, sophomore Lisa Nentwig stepped into the batter’s box with a chance to either squander another Wolfpack scoring opportunity or be the hero.

Fortunately for State, hero was the choice.

Nentwig ripped a double into the gap between right and center field, clearing the bases and giving the Pack a 7-6 lead they would hold on to Sunday at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex.

“Coach [Lisa Navas] had just told me they walked the girl in front of me to get to me,” Nentwig said. “So I went up to the plate and said ‘you’re going to be sorry for this’ and it worked out.”

Nentwig’s timely double came just one day after sophomore Ashleigh Davis’ walk-off homerun in game one of a Saturday doubleheader against Boston College.

Navas said the team needed opportune hitting because it did not play well.

“The homerun by Ashleigh yesterday and Lisa Nentwig getting that double today was critical for us,” Navas said. “Hitting-wise we’re doing much better.”

With the one run lead heading into the sixth inning, Navas went to the bullpen and brought in junior right hander Abbie Sims, who cruised through two innings allowing only one base runner.

Sims started game one on Saturday and gave up five runs and said she was eager to get back on the mound after the sub-par outing.

“I didn’t have the best performance yesterday,” Sims said. “So I came in more focused and tried to hit the corners and not let them get good contact on the ball.”

Navas echoed Sims’ analysis of her outing on Saturday and said the team’s pitching needs to improve.

“Abbie honestly probably pitched the worst game of her career yesterday,” Navas said. “Pitching-wise, we need to get sharper.”

The win moves State to 25-10 overall and 3-0 in the ACC and Navas said starting conference play with a sweep is good for the team as a whole.

“It’s extremely important and it really helps us,” Navas said. “We didn’t play that well this weekend, but we got some things done, and we got production from a lot of different people.”

The Pack is in action next against at East Carolina for a doubleheader Wednesday.