WILMINGTON 𑁋 Thanks to an early 5-0 lead and three-run homers from junior catcher Brad Debo and senior first baseman Evan Edwards, the NC State baseball team snapped a five-game losing streak with a 14-7 win over UNC-Wilmington at Brooks Field Tuesday night.
The Wolfpack (30-8, 12-6 ACC) jumped ahead early with three runs in the first inning and two in the second, thanks to a two-run homer from shortstop Will Wilson. Debo blasted his homer in the sixth, with Edwards adding three runs in the eighth as the Pack held off a comeback effort from the Seahawks (20-18, 5-4 CAA), led by a sixth-inning grand slam from outfielder Noah Bridges.
“It’s super important,” Debo said. “Get back on track. UNC-W is good; they’re always good. That’s a big win for us to kind of get back together and swing the bats some more. This past weekend was tough, but all we can do is learn from it and keep going.”
The Pack utilized seven pitchers in the game, started off by redshirt freshman righty Cameron Cotter who had an efficient two-inning outing. Sophomore lefty Nick Swiney had the Pack’s best showing, striking out six batters without allowing a hit over two innings of work.
“Just going from the bullpen, just locating the fastball and off-speed,” Swiney said. “I felt pretty good coming in, commanding all three pitches for strikes. Just knowing my defense can work behind me, so you feel pretty comfortable going out here and just letting the defense work.”
NC State wasted no time getting on the board, thanks in large part to UNC-W starter Gage Herring. The Pack drew four walks in its first eight plate appearances, chasing Herring from the game in the opening frame.
After a walk from Wilson and a double from Edwards, freshman outfielder Tyler McDonough delivered the game’s first run, scoring Wilson on a hard-hit single into right field. Sophomore second baseman David Vazquez drove in a run with a sac fly to center, and sophomore designated hitter Terrell Tatum tacked on an RBI walk.
The Pack added two more runs in the second inning, but they came at a cost. Wilson launched a two-run homer, his team-leading 13th of the year, well past the fence in left field. However, Wilson fell over the first baseman, and after staying on the field for a long time, exited the game.
“I think it was maybe his head,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “Maybe he lost, or chipped, a couple teeth on both sides of his mouth. I think it was a pretty hard collision with the first baseman. That’s just unfortunate.”
Following the Wilson home run, Seahawks’ reliever Justin Walke, who entered in the first, settled in and put together a solid outing. Walke pitched through the fifth inning, giving up just three hits and two runs, including the Wilson blast.
Sophomore lefty David Harrison took over for Cotter after two innings, and had a solid outing as well, striking out four batters while walking one and allowing one hit over two innings. Harrison made way for junior righty Michael Bienlien to start the fifth, who the Seahawks got to.
UNC-W tallied three runs on two hits in the fifth frame off of Bienlien, as the Pack righty was only able to get two outs before making way for sophomore lefty Evan Justice. After walking two batters, Bienlien gave up a deep RBI single to Bridges, which scored one.
The Seahawks made it 5-3 on the next batter, as infielder Jackson Meadows ripped a two-run double off of Bienlien into right field to cut the Pack’s lead in half. After a strikeout and another walk from Bienlien, Justice entered the game and ended the inning with a punchout.
NC State answered right back, as the Pack plated four runs in the sixth to make it 9-3. Freshman infielder Vojtech Mensik led the inning off with a walk, and scored all the way from first on an RBI double from sophomore outfielder Jonny Butler.
After Edwards was intentionally walked, Debo obliterated a 1-0 pitch over the fence in deep right-centerfield for a three-run blast. It was Debo’s fourth long ball of the year, tying his best single-season tally.
“I knew I got it. It felt good,” Debo said. “I’ve been struggling a little bit at the plate for the past couple of weeks so it felt good to barrel up a couple of balls … it was good to get back in there and find some barrels.”
Like the Wolfpack answered UNC-W’s rally, the Seahawks answered the Pack’s in a big way. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Bridges blasted a towering grand slam off of Pack freshman righty Baker Nelson. A double and two walks loaded the bases, before Bridges jumped all over a 2-0 pitch to make the game 9-7.
Edwards put the game out of reach in the eighth, as he sent a 3-1 pitch out of the park for an opposite-field blast. Butler led the frame off with a walk, and sophomore infielder J.T. Jarrett, who replaced Wilson, singled on a perfectly executed slash play to set up Edwards for the three-run bomb.
With superstar sophomore catcher Patrick Bailey getting the night off, and Wilson leaving early, Edwards and Debo picked up the offense for the Pack.
“This is a close ball club, they all pick each other up,” Avent said. “I don’t think Evan did anything different tonight, but I know him and Will and Patrick are all close. Maybe he felt a little something like ‘I’m picking my guys up because they can’t be out here.’ Debo hits the big home run, he gets the start behind the plate tonight.”
Junior Lawson McArthur added an RBI triple to make it 13-7 in the eighth. The Pack tacked on one more in the ninth, thanks to an error, passed ball and RBI sac bunt from Jarrett.
Swiney set the Seahawks down efficiently over the seventh and eighth innings, before making way for junior righty Alec Barger, who retired the side in order to close out the game.
NC State will look to get back to its winning ways in ACC play this weekend, as it will travel to Winston-Salem for a three-game slate with Wake Forest, starting Thursday.
“Just going into Wake Forest, we have one day off now with Easter coming off,” Swiney said. “It was a good that we got that win. Just that five-game losing streak, we kind of know who we are; we all stay together. Just staying to ourselves and getting back to the fundamentals of what we used to do. So it was definitely good getting this win going into an ACC weekend.”
Sophomore outfielder Jonny Butler slides into third base against the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks on Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at Brooks Field in Wilmington. Butler scored three runs for the Wolfpack. The Pack beat the Seahawks 14-7.
