NC State baseball delivered another comeback win for fans at Doak Field Saturday, beating Pittsburgh 21-3, albeit in a less dramatic fashion than the win on Friday.
After being down 3-0 in the first inning, the Pack (14-0, 2-0 ACC) tied the game up in the third and then never looked back after an eight-run fourth inning.
Pittsburgh (6-6, 0-2 ACC) got on the board early, partly thanks to an early mistake by the Pack. A hard-hit ground ball by Pitt left fielder Ron Washington Jr. that was unable to be corralled by sophomore second basemen J.T. Jarrett scored a runner all the way from second base for the Panthers.
Pitt continued to score another run with an RBI triple from right fielder Nico Popa, making the score 2-0. Wolfpack starting pitcher, sophomore Canaan Silver, would not survive the inning after only recording two outs on the day. Junior Alec Barger replaced Silver and recorded the final out of the inning, but not before an RBI single by Bryce O’Farrell put the Panthers up 3-0.
The Pack did not waste any time responding to the Panthers however, as another fielding error made this time by Panthers’ second baseman Alex Amos would bring in two runs for the Pack. What should have been a routine ground ball hit by senior first basemen Evan Edwards hopped right under Amos, narrowing the game to a one-run differential before even one out could be recorded by the Panthers. Three consecutive outs would end the inning for the Pack, but the two runs scored gave the Wolfpack much needed momentum heading into the second inning.
After a scoreless second inning, sophomore catcher Patrick Bailey provided the spark the Pack needed in the third. A hard-hit ball by Bailey hit off of the center-field wall, allowing him to reach third.
“I would say I’ve struggled a little bit this season,” Bailey said. “I’ve been hitting some balls hard right at people, you know that’s baseball. But I was just trying to stay within my approach and get something good to hit and put a good swing on it, and that’s what I was able to do.”
Junior designated hitter Brad Debo followed up Bailey with an RBI single up the middle. With the run scored by Bailey, the Pack tied the game at three, scoring three unanswered runs.
NC State broke the tie in the fourth with an offensive explosion. A single by junior shortstop Will Wilson with the bases loaded began the scoring for the Pack, making the game 4-3. Edwards and Bailey would then step up to the plate and deliver two, two-RBI doubles of their own, increasing the lead to 8-3. Pitt would gift the Pack an unearned run on a balk that scored Debo, and Jarrett would bring in the last run of the inning on an RBI single. The eight-run, nine-hit inning gave NC State a commanding 11-3 lead, with all runs being scored without any sort of offensive response from Pitt.
Freshman center fielder Tyler McDonough added an RBI single that put the Pack up 12-3 as junior right-handed pitcher Andrew Blake continued his excellent day of relief with another shutout inning. Blake would finish his day with five strikeouts and zero runs given up in four innings of work.
“It’s easy to throw like that when you have nine guys behind you that you have faith and confidence in,” Blake said. “I trust Pat behind the plate and once I throw the ball it’s up to Pat and the guys behind me to back me up. I think every single one of us pitchers has that confidence in our teammates.”
The seventh inning gave the game its first two home runs, with freshman catcher Luca Tresh and redshirt freshman outfielder Thayer Thomas both knocking in bombs for the Wolfpack. Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent had high praise for Thomas, who is also a wide receiver on the football team.
“He’s doing a triple shift with academics, baseball and football,” Avent said. “He’s doing something that is very, very hard. You talk about accountability, discipline, or work ethic and desire, it takes all of those things to do what he’s doing right now.
The Pack continued to show no mercy in the eighth inning, turning a game that was already a rout into a game that’s score would be considered a comfortable win in a football game. NC State would pour in seven more runs that increased its lead to 21-3.
The inning was highlighted by a two-RBI double by freshman outfielder Marek Chlup and another RBI from Thomas, this time a double. Thomas would cap off the inning by scoring a run due to a fielding error by Pitt third baseman Sky Duff, yet another error given up by the Panthers that resulted in a Wolfpack run.
The Pack followed its seven-run eighth inning by closing out Pitt with another scoreless inning in the ninth. NC State did not allow Pitt to score another run after the first, and the 21 runs scored by the Pack were the most runs scored in ACC play since a win against Maryland in 2010.
With a win Saturday, the Pack increased its win total to 14 to start the season, adding on to the best start ever in program history.
“They are resilient right now, they’re playing with a lot of confidence and that comes from winning,” Avent said. “I’m just really proud of them, they’re working hard. I think what it does is it gives you some more energy to go work even harder.”
NC State looks to sweep Pittsburgh in the final game of the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
