After falling behind 9-1 early, the NC State baseball team couldn’t complete a solid comeback effort in game one of a doubleheader against Louisville Saturday, falling 14-10 in an offensive showcase at Doak Field.
The Wolfpack (29-6, 12-4 ACC) plated runs in four of its last five innings, but it wasn’t enough to overcome an early deficit built by a seven-run third inning from the Cardinals (26-8,11-5 ACC). The two teams combined for 30 hits to go along with the 24 runs.
For the Cardinals, third baseman Alex Binelas highlighted the offensive outburst, tallying five RBIs thanks to a three-run homer in the third inning and a two-run double in the eighth. Junior shortstop Will Wilson belted two home runs for the Pack, with sophomore catcher Patrick Bailey adding one.
Junior righty Jason Parker (3-2, 3.72 ERA) got the start on the mound for NC State and had undoubtedly his worst outing of the year. Parker took the loss after giving up 10 runs, eight earned, on 13 hits over the course of five-plus innings of work.
For Louisville, lefty Reid Detmers (6-2, 2.24 ERA) had a solid outing, earning the win after throwing 5.2 innings. Detmers gave up five runs, three on solo homers, while striking out eight in his sixth win of the season.
Both teams plated a run in the first inning, as an RBI groundout from Louisville’s Logan Wyatt was answered by a run-scoring double from Pack senior first baseman Evan Edwards.
Louisville tallied again in the second, as a bases-loaded error charged to freshman third baseman Vojetch Mensik allowed a run to score.
Parker did a decent job of limiting damage over the first two frames; six of the Cards first 10 batters reached base, but Parker only allowed one run in each frame to keep it a 2-1 Louisville lead.
After the Pack failed to bring home a run after having two in scoring position with no outs in the second, the Cardinals absolutely blew things open in the third inning. The Cardinals scored seven runs on five hits after a brief weather delay, with all seven runs coming with two outs.
Binelas, the eight-hole hitter, started the scoring out with a three-run blast over the wall in right. The Cardinals followed up Binelas’ home run with five straight batters reaching base, ending with a two-run double from Wyatt to make it 9-1. An infield ground ball, that was overturned after an NC State challenged, ended the frame.
Wilson got one run back for the Pack in the bottom of the third, launching his 10th home run of the season over the wall in left field to start the inning. That was all that the Pack would get though, as Detmers retired the next three batters in order.
Parker settled in after the seven-run third inning, as he retired Louisville in order in the fourth before working around a two-out double in the fifth.
After setting down eighth straight batters following the Wilson home run in the third, Detmers again was beat by the Wolfpack shortstop in the fifth. With two outs, Wilson demolished a 1-1 pitch from Detmers, sending it well over the wall in left for his team-leading 11th home run of the season, and second of the game.
Bailey followed up Wilson’s second blast with one of his own, launching his eighth home run of the season over the wall in deep left-center field, cutting Louisville’s lead to 9-4.
Thanks in major part to some defensive miscues from NC State, Louisville plated three runs in the sixth to extend its lead to 12-4. Wyatt singled to lead off the inning, moving to third on a bad pickoff attempt from Parker, who would exit the game during the sixth.
Three hits and another error later, Louisville had scored three runs in the inning off of a mix of Parker, sophomore lefty Nick Swiney and junior righty Alec Barger.
After a Butler single brought home a run for the Pack in the sixth, NC State made things very interesting in the seventh inning. The Wolfpack cut the Cardinals’ lead to 12-9 after scoring four runs on three hits in the seventh.
After back-to-back walks started the inning, freshman outfielder Tyler McDonough laced a double down the line in right to plate both runs. Freshman pinch hitter Marek Chlup launched a triple over the head of the center fielder, scoring McDonough easily from second. Chlup came around to score on a sac fly from Vazquez.
The Wolfpack loaded the bases following the Vazquez sac fly, but a swinging strikeout on a 3-2 pitch from Bailey ended the frame with the tying run at first and the go-ahead run at the plate.
Louisville again answered NC State’s runs, as the Cardinals tallied two in the eighth to grow their lead back up to 14-9. Three straight hits off of Barger got the runs on the board, with Binelas bringing home both with a two-run double for his fourth and fifth RBIs of the day.
NC State added a run in the eighth thanks to a triple from Edwards and a sac fly from Chlup, but that would be the end of the game’s scoring, as the Wolfpack couldn’t muster a ninth-inning rally and fell 14-10.
With the loss, NC State’s lead over Louisville in the ACC Atlantic Division shrunk to just one game. The Pack and the Cardinals will get back in action for the second game of the doubleheader Saturday evening.
Junior pitcher Jason Parker delivers a strikeout pitch against Louisville on Saturday, April 13, 2019 at Doak Field. Parker pitched five innings, giving up 10 earned runs on 13 hits while striking out four. The Wolfpack lost to the Cardinals 14-10.
