N.C. State got its bats going early on a warm, rainy, windy day in south Florida, scoring nine runs through the first two innings and cruising to a 19-9 win against Miami on Sunday.
With Sunday’s win the Wolfpack won the series two games to one. Friday night, the team won 5-3 in 13 innings and then fell 5-1 Saturday afternoon, a game in which State failed to score for the first eight innings.
“Our players came out with a great focus and a great determination [Sunday],” coach Elliott Avent said. “If we were going to get beat, it wasn’t going to be the way we got beat [Saturday].”
Five different Pack batters had three or more hits as State had 23 total in the game. Sophomore center fielder Marcus Jones led the way for State at the plate, going 4-for-6 with three RBIs and a home run.
For Jones, though, the day had added meaning that had nothing to do with winning or losing. Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
And to honor the Hall-of-Fame second baseman, Jones wore Robinson’s No.-42 jersey in the game.
“It felt good to have a good day on such a special day,” Jones said.
Jones said he wore the number to show respect and to thank Robinson for everything he did for black baseball players, the game of baseball and the country as a whole. And though he said it had nothing to do with why he wore the number, Jones said thinking about what Robinson went through actually helped him at the plate.
“It felt kind of weird wearing the number, because I know whose number it is and what it means,” Jones said. “But at the same time, it helped me relax and go out and have fun and play hard.”
On the mound for the Pack was freshman lefty Jimmy Gillheeney, who, heading into the game, was 3-0 as a starter with 2.84 ERA. Sunday, however, he struggled from the outset and gave up five earned runs in just two innings of work.
Luckily for Gillheeney, the offense picked him up. According to Avent, though, the early offensive production could have actually led to some of the pitcher’s woes.
“We had a couple of long innings offensively there,” Avent said. “And I don’t know if maybe Jimmy lost focus or rhythm just sitting there, but that wasn’t Jimmy Gillheeney today.”
With the two wins this weekend, State improved to 26-11 overall and 11-7 in the ACC. The team has now won four of its six conference series this season.
Avent said going to a place like Miami with all the “mystique” and getting two of three games was quite an accomplishment, especially after squandering two leads against Florida State the weekend before.
“[Miami’s] been playing very good baseball, so our guys have got to be pretty proud of the way they bounced back after those tough couple of losses to Florida State last weekend,” he said.
