After stealing a win Sunday against No. 25/28 UNC-Chapel Hill in a weekend series, the NC State softball team could not overcome a 4-0 deficit in the third inning, falling to Liberty in a comeback effort 5-3 on Wednesday evening.
Liberty sophomore right-hander Julia Dimartino gave the Pack (12-21, 6-3 ACC) trouble at the plate for most of the matchup. Dimartino entered the game with a 2.90 ERA and 69 strikeouts on the season. She added six more strikeouts to her season tally Wednesday, limiting NC State’s opportunities early on.
“I think we could have had better at-bats through those first four innings and put a little pressure on and it might have made more of a difference at the very end,” head coach Shawn Rychcik said.
It was a pitching battle between Wolfpack freshman Peyton Silverman and Dimartino in the first two frames until the Flames (19-15, 5-1 Big South) quickly distanced themselves.
In the top of the third, second baseman Amber Bishop provided the spark for the Flames with a solo home run into right field, her sixth of the season. Not long after Bishop’s blast, designated player Emily Sweat followed with a three-run homer, extending the lead to 4-0.
After surrendering a concerning four runs on six hits in the third inning, Silverman found her footing, allowing just five hits for the rest of the contest.
“It looked like [Silverman’s] pitches lost their zip,” Rychcik said. “The first couple innings I thought she threw really hard and [her pitches] had a little more zip than they did in the past…we just kind of hit a wall.”
Sophomore first baseman Cheyenne Balzer got the Wolfpack on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a solo blast to right field, her fourth homer of the season.
Following Balzer’s score, the Pack showed life with base hits from sophomore third baseman Brittany Nimmo and senior outfielder Tyler Ross. With Nimmo and Ross on third and second, respectively, Liberty catcher Kaitlin McFarland tried to catch Ross stealing third, yet the second baseman fumbled the ball, allowing Nimmo to advance to home for an unearned run, cutting the Flames’ lead to 4-2.
The fifth inning was only the beginning of the Wolfpack’s furious comeback. In the sixth frame, senior catcher Molly Hutchison launched a solo shot to left field, cutting the deficit to just one run.
The Flames were able to prevent a complete collapse in the seventh, however, with an RBI single to left from shortstop Sarah Robertson, widening the margin to 5-3.
Despite allowing 11 hits, the Pack received superb play from its infield which allowed it to stay in this game until the end. Silverman and junior shortstop Alyssa Compton both converted double plays to close out two innings, preserving NC State’s chances.
In the final frame, the Wolfpack caught a break when the Liberty first baseman didn’t have her foot on the bag, letting senior second baseman Molly Martin reach first. Following a left-field fly out from junior outfielder Macauley Prickett, the tying run was at home with Ross up to bat.
Ross caught a piece of three Dimartino pitches, yet they were all fouls. Ross ended the at-bat by flying out to the pitcher.
“We didn’t make an adjustment,” Rychcik said. “I thought that was a key point I made to the team out there today. We just could not make an adjustment in the first four innings, it was almost like we were comfortable taking the same swing and the same swing.”
With two outs and one runner on base, freshman Jade Caraway hit a line drive to center and the Flames outfielder corralled the ball, halting NC State’s rally two runs short, 5-3.
NC State will be back on the diamond to face No. 19/19 Tennessee in a three-game series in Knoxville, Tennessee this weekend.
