The NC State baseball team evened its weekend series against Notre Dame with a 4-2 win Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Indiana.
The Wolfpack (33-11, 14-9 ACC) staved off the Fighting Irish (18-23, 11-12 ACC) after overcoming an early deficit and scoring its four runs in the sixth inning.
Notre Dame took the lead first after an RBI single by Eric Gilgenbach to left field plated a run. Starting sophomore right-hander Reid Johnston recorded five strikeouts through four innings before being pulled after a set of Notre Dame hits and a pair of walks.
Sophomore left-hander Evan Justice finished out the inning for the Pack and pitched two additional hitless innings.
The Pack finally got on the board thanks to a pair of doubles. After loading up the bases with two outs, Notre Dame right-hander Cameron Junker served up a pitch that caught too much of the plate, which freshman center fielder Tyler McDonough crushed to left-center field, clearing the bases with a two-out double.
The Irish made a pitching change, going with right-handed pitcher Andrew Belcik, but the Wolfpack kept pressing as senior first baseman Evan Edwards collected his second double of the game, scoring McDonough and giving NC State a 4-1 lead.
The pitching battle continued through the next two innings as neither team managed to get anything going with their bats.
However, Notre Dame seemed to be on the verge of a comeback in the bottom of the ninth when sophomore left-hander Nick Swiney loaded the bases with two outs. The Irish managed to score a run off a single, but a grounder to first base secured the final out and the win for the Wolfpack.
NC State responded well after the disappointing loss to the Irish the day before. After a record-breaking start to the season, the Pack has faltered a bit, struggling as of late against its ACC opponents. The win is a promising sign for an NC State team perfectly capable of beating any team in the conference.
NC State will play the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m. at Frank Eck Stadium. The game can be seen live on the ACC Network Extra and listened to on WKNC 88.1 FM.
