MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Sometimes, in baseball, you need a little luck on your side. That was the case for NC State Friday at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark, as a bloop single for sophomore catcher Patrick Bailey in the 11th inning gave the Pack a 3-2, walk-off win over Kent State.
Junior shortstop Will Wilson had two hits and two RBIs for the Wolfpack (5-0), including a game-tying solo homerun in the bottom of the eighth. The Wolfpack’s pitchers, a combination of junior starter Jason Parker, redshirt sophomore reliever Dalton Feeney, sophomore reliever Evan Justice and junior reliever Kent Klyman, held the Golden Flashes (0-4) to just two runs (none earned) on eight hits while striking out 11 and walking two.
“I thought our pitching was really good,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “I thought it was the best Evan Justice has pitched since he’s been here … That’s a real good ball club. They’re real well coached. They play with a lot of energy. They wanted to win badly.”
In the bottom of the 11th inning, with two outs and runners on first and second, Bailey came to the plate looking to pick up a walkoff hit for his team. While what actually transpired, a bloop that dropped just fair between the Kent State shortstop and left fielder and scored junior outfielder Lawson McArthur from second, was probably not what Bailey imagined, it’ll count the same in the scorebook.
“We definitely didn’t play our best ball today but when you can come out with a win, that’s what it takes,” Bailey said. “At the end of the day, when people see it they’re going to see a W. As a team we’ve got some stuff to work on, but it’s always good to come away with a win.”
Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, NC State needed a big hit from its best player. Wilson obliged, sending a towering shot to left field for his third homer of the season to tie it at two.
Following a scoreless first two innings, Kent State took a 2-0 lead off Parker on a sac fly and RBI single in the bottom of the third.
Avent replaced Parker with Justice to start the fifth inning; Parker finished his start having allowed two runs (none earned) on three hits while striking out four and walking two on 80 pitches in 4.0 innings.
Justice got into a jam early as a bloop single, stolen base and infield single gave Kent State runners on the corners, but a 4-6-3 double play kept the Wolfpack within two runs.
After failing to muster a hit through the first five innings, NC State broke both the shutout and no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth, but missed an opportunity at a bigger inning, stranding three runners.
Sophomore right fielder Devonte Brown broke up Kent State starter Connor Wollersheim’s no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth, smashing a double off the centerfield wall. After sophomore left fielder Johnny Butler walked to give the Pack runners on first and second with no outs, Wilson came through to break the shutout, singling up the middle to bring Brown home and make it 2-1.
“I thought we had some very average to not good at-bats early in the game,” Wilson said. “We just need to slow ourselves down and get the pitcher out of his pace and back into our hands. I think we did that better later in the game than early.”
After Butler stole third with one out and Wilson took second on a wild pitch, Wollersheim walked senior first baseman Evan Edwards to load the bases. The Pack, however; could not scratch another run across as freshman designated hitter Marek Chlup struck out swinging and freshman center fielder Tyler McDonough flew out to right to end the threat.
Avent replaced Justice with Feeney with a runner on first and no outs in the top of the ninth; Justice threw 47 pitches in four innings, allowing four hits while striking out five and walking none.
Feeney retired the side with the help of line-out double play, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth scoreless.
NC State had opportunities to end the game in both the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings, but stranded a combined five base runners before Bailey’s walk-off hit in the 11th.
“They played hard and we were very fortunate to win that game,” Avent said. “Our at-bats early were terrible I thought. Took a lot of fastballs. But then late in the game, I thought we had some opportunities that we just squandered and we’ve got to get better at.”
NC State will continue the Baseball at the Beach Tournament Saturday with a game against Michigan State at Coastal Carolina’s Spring Brooks Stadium.
“Road trips are always fun,” Wilson said. “You get the new guys out. We don’t get to live with the freshmen, so you get to live with them on road trips. Guys just have fun. You go out to eat, the families come down and go out together. It’s just a really good atmosphere, really good fun.”
The Wolfpack rushes the field after a game-winning walk-off in the eleventh inning at TICKETRETURN.COM Field in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Friday, Feb. 22.
