The NC State softball team beat the Kansas Jayhawks 4-1 at Dail Softball Stadium on Friday afternoon in a rain-shortened first game of the NC State Invitational.
After dropping four straight in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the Wolfpack (8-6) has now won five straight games.
The Jayhawks (3-11) struck first, with leadoff hitter Sydnee Ramsey smacking a double off the left-field wall. Ramsey came around to score two batters later on a one-out double by catcher Shelby Gayre, putting the Jayhawks up 1-0 in the top of the first inning.
NC State answered back in the bottom of the third inning, as senior first baseman Jessica Moore (1 for 3, HR, two RBI) taking Kansas starting pitcher Lexy Mills deep. With two outs and junior designated player Skylar Johnston (1 for 2, run, RBI) on base, Moore took Mills’ 2-2 offering deep to right field for a home run, putting the Pack up 2-1.
“We always go up with our home-run mindset,” Moore said. “We’re always ready to attack and that’s what I was doing.”
Nursing a one-run lead in the fifth inning, Johnston lined a single to right field, scoring junior right fielder Brigette Nordberg (1 for 2, run, two BB) and adding an insurance run to extend the Wolfpack’s lead to 3-1. One inning later, senior second baseman Natalie Jones (1 for 3, HR, RBI) turned on an 0-1 fastball and homered to left field, her third home run of the year, putting the Pack up 4-1.
As light rain increased to a steady downpour, Kansas got a late rally going in the seventh inning, with an RBI single by center fielder Jennifer Marwitz cutting the Wolfpack lead to 4-2. An error by freshman shortstop April Visser put runners on first and second, and two batters later, Ramsey launched a three-run home run deep to left field, putting Kansas up 5-4.
Shortly after Ramsey’s home run, the rain escalated further and the umpires waved everyone off the field into a rain delay. Around 45 minutes later, the umpires called the game and because the game was in the middle of the top of the seventh inning and the inning had yet to be completed, the result after six innings became final, awarding the Wolfpack a 4-1 win.
“A win’s a win,” head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift said. “Every now and then I’ll take a little luck.”
Four Wolfpack hitters extended their streaks of reaching base safely to at least six games, with sophomore third baseman Logan Morris (two BB) extending her streak to eight games, Nordberg pushing hers to seven, and Johnston and sophomore left fielder Sam Russ (1 for 4) each reaching base for the sixth straight game.
With the seventh inning waved off into nonexistence, right-hander Devin Wallace (3-3, 1.95 ERA) bounced back after a rocky first inning and threw a six-inning complete game for the Pack, allowing one run on five hits, striking out seven batters.
“She made an adjustment,” Patrick-Swift said. “As the game got on she settled down.”
The Wolfpack returns to action on Saturday, March 2, at 3:00 p.m. against Campbell at Dail Softball Stadium.
Junior pitcher Devin Wallace pitches the ball to Kansas on Friday March 1, 2019 in Dail Softball Stadium. The Pack beat the Jayhawks 4-1.
