The NC State baseball team fell short against the No. 6 Miami Hurricanes in a close 6-4 home ballgame on Saturday, March 6. Despite bridging two two-run deficits to tie it up, the third time was not the charm as the Pack could not make it happen in the final three innings.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Sam Highfill (4.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 K) got off to a rough start on the mound, hitting the first batter and surrendering two runs on two hits that amounted to an early 2-0 lead for the Hurricanes. The Pack evened the score as quickly as possible though, as sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough (2-4, HR, 3 RBI) went yard with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to even the score after junior first baseman Austin Murr (1-4, BB) led off with a double.
Highfill settled into the game for the next few innings, keeping NC State in contention by allowing only one baserunner from the second inning to the fourth. Miami’s starter, right-handed pitcher Alejandro Rosario (5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 K), stifled NC State for that period as well, giving up only a single and a walk. By the time the top of the fifth rolled around, the score was still deadlocked at two runs each.
Highfill was the first of the two to blink, as Miami produced another pair of runs in the fifth inning. After their first two batters grounded out, the Hurricanes mustered a two-out rally to retake the lead. Miami shortstop Dominic Pitelli reached base on a single to center, and the top of the Hurricanes lineup notched back-to-back doubles to put them ahead 4-2.
Once Highfill hit the next batter, junior left-handed pitcher Canaan Silver (3.1 IP, ER, 3 K) entered the game in relief. Silver immediately engineered a strikeout to end the rally and stop the bleeding.
In what became the overarching theme of the game, the Pack inched back into the game in the bottom of the fifth but failed to take the lead. Sophomore third baseman Vojtech Mensik (1-4, SB) hit an infield single to lead off the frame and successfully stole second base after two quick outs. From there, McDonough knocked a single to right field to send Mensik home, reducing the gap to one run.
After Silver retired the Hurricanes in order in the top of the sixth, NC State evened up the game again in the bottom half of the inning. Junior left fielder Jonny Butler (1-2, BB, HBP) singled to lead off the inning and was knocked in by junior second baseman J.T. Jarrett (1-4, RBI) to tie the score at 4-4 through six innings.
That would be the end of the offensive production on the part of the Pack, as it could only muster two baserunners and not a single hit for the remainder of the game. Both of those runners came in the eighth inning, but Miami got out of the jam with a strikeout and lineout.
In contrast, Miami retook the lead a third time in the top of the eighth with an RBI groundout to first and did not let go. With one-run innings in the eighth and ninth, the Hurricanes defeated the Wolfpack 6-4.
The Pack will finish out its series against Miami on Sunday, March 7, at 1 p.m. The game will be aired on ACC Network Extra.
