The NC State softball team opened the 2019 season in Tampa, Florida at the USF Opening Weekend Invitational with five games over the past three days. The Wolfpack (3-2) collected three wins out of the five games, defeating No. 7 Arizona, USF, who is receiving votes in the poll, and Illinois State.
On Friday, the Pack opened up against No. 19 Michigan (3-2) who defeated NC State in a close 4-3 contest. In the game, sophomore infielder Lorgan Morris, a transfer from USC Upstate, went 1 for 3 with her one hit being a home run; it was the team’s first of the season.
In the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, the Wolfpack defeated Illinois State 10-9. The game started off with the Pack jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Eventually it would extend its lead to 10-1 until the fifth inning when the Redbirds (0-5) climbed back into the game with five runs in the fifth.
The two big contributors to the Pack’s win against the Redbirds were freshman infielder April Visser and senior infielder Brittany Nimmo who both went 2 for 3 at the plate, had a home run apiece and three RBIs. As a team, NC State had 10 hits on the game and zero errors, a very sound effort for the Pack.
On Saturday, there was only one game on tap for the Pack against the South Florida Bulls (1-4) who it defeated 2-1 in another close game for the team. Redshirt sophomore infielder Randi Farricker, an Arizona State transfer, was the main source of the Pack’s offense Saturday, going 2 for 3 with a triple and a two-run home run in the fifth inning that decided the game.
Junior pitcher Devin Wallace, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, tossed her first complete game of the season, only giving up four hits and one unearned run, striking out three batters. She has started her NC State career 2-1.
On Sunday, the Pack faced two softball powerhouses in No. 7 Arizona (3-2) and No. 5 Florida (5-0) going 1-1 against the two teams. The day started off with the Pack defeating the Wildcats 4-1. The last win for NC State against a top 10 team was against the eighth-ranked Florida State Seminoles in April of 2015 by a score of 9-4.
The stellar performance of the day came from freshman pitcher Sydney Nester in the circle. She picked up her first win as part of the Wolfpack, throwing a complete game and striking out five batters while only giving up one earned run. Junior outfielder Angie Rizzie registered her first career home run, going 2 for 2 in the contest.
In its weekend finale, the Pack fell to Florida 2-1. Even with the defeat, this was a phenomenal result for NC State as the Gators are the pinnacle of what college softball programs look to be.
Junior Brigette Nordberg, senior Natalie Jones and Farricker all went 1 for 3 in the game, with each of the three hits being extra-base hits.
Overall, it was a very successful weekend for the NC State softball program, which is under the direction of first-year head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. The Pack will be back in action next weekend at home in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, starting Friday at 4 p.m. against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. It will play Nebraska and Wisconsin in the tournament twice apiece over the weekend.
