In the bottom of the third inning Wednesday night, N.C. State found itself in a deadlock game with UNC-Wilmington at 1-1 early on. The Wolfpack’s starting pitcher, freshman Nate Karns, only lasted two and one-third innings, and the team was coming off a weekend in which it scored a total of seven runs against Georgia Tech, which resulted in a sweep.
State needed to get something going when senior catcher Caleb Mangum stepped into the batter’s box at Doak Field. Mangum only had two hits in the Georgia Tech series and found himself with runners on first and third with one out in the bottom of the third.
“I was trying to hit a deep fly ball to score a run,” Mangum said, saying he was hoping to hit a sacrifice fly.
After watching a called strike on the first pitch, Mangum launched the second pitch over the left-field wall to lift the Pack to a 4-1 lead, good for his sixth home run this season.
“I wasn’t trying to hit it out of the park,” Mangum said.
But he said he didn’t want to hit into an inning-ending double play with a ground ball, either.
Mangum was looking for an off-speed pitch when UNC-W pitcher Andrew Morgan threw him the change up that ended up leaving the stadium. Against Georgia Tech, Mangum said the Pack was getting off-speed pitches when it had runners in scoring position, so he was looking for one.
“I was sitting off-speed that at-bat,” he said. “I took a change-up early to get the timing of it, and he came back with it.”
Mangum, who had four of the team’s six runs batted in, also turned in an impressive defensive play in the first inning of the game that left him with an injury he played through.
With a runner on first base and the batter with two strikes, Karns threw a ball in the dirt. The batter swung late — Mangum thought it was an attempted hit and run — and missed. The batter’s back swing caught Mangum under the left eye and “busted it open pretty good.”
Mangum’s throw was still on the money and good for a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play to end the first inning. The spectacular play was special, Mangum said, because the man he threw out was high school teammate Grayson Evans. Coach Elliott Avent said it showed Mangum’s heart.
“When I think of Caleb, I just think tough,” Avent said. “Every catcher we’ve had [at N.C. State] has been outstanding, and Caleb could very well be the best of the bunch.”
Despite Mangum getting off to a slow start due to an injury causing him to miss the preseason, Avent said he is “really hot with the bat right now.”
“Not only that, but he’s a good hitter,” Avent added.
This weekend’s upcoming series against North Carolina is going to be particularly special for Mangum as it is his last regular-season showdown with the rival Tar Heels.
“It’s big for me. I’m from around here, grew up a State fan,” Mangum said. “It’s personal for me.”