The NC State baseball team beat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 13-7 in a high-scoring first game of the series on Friday, April 30 in Winston-Salem.
The Wolfpack (21-13, 13-12 ACC) and the Demon Deacons (14-21, 6-18 ACC) combined for a total of nine home runs, 22 hits and 20 runs in an action-packed game.
The Deacs got the scoring started with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead. The Pack got on the board in the top of the second as junior left fielder Jonny Butler (3-5, 3 RBI, HR) scored on a fielding error by the Deacs. Sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough (1-5, RBI, HR) tied things up one inning later with a solo home run.
The tie didn’t last for long as the Deacs hit another two-run homer in the bottom of the third to take a 4-2 lead. The Pack answered in the top of the fourth as junior right fielder Devonte Brown (1-4, 2 RBI, HR) hit a two-run home run that scored freshman shortstop Jose Torres (1-5) to tie the score 4-4. Junior designated hitter Terrell Tatum (2-4, 2 RBI, 2 HR) followed up with a solo shot on the very next pitch to give the Pack its first lead of the night 5-4.
The back-and-forth action continued as the Deacs hit solo home runs in both the fourth and the fifth to retake the lead 6-5. After Tatum hit his second home run of the night in the top of the sixth to tie the score 6-6, the Deacs scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning to take the lead again 7-6.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Butler hit a go-ahead three-run home run that scored sophomore catcher Luca Tresh (1-3, RBI) and junior first baseman Austin Murr (2-5, RBI) to put the Pack up 9-7.
That was just the beginning of the fun as in the top of the eighth Tatum and Brown scored on an error by the Deacs to make the score 11-7, then Murr hit an RBI single that brought in sophomore third baseman Vojtech Mensik (0-4) to make the score 12-7. Tresh capped off the scoring with an RBI single that scored Murr as the Pack finished it off 13-7.
The starting pitcher for the Pack was freshman Sam Highfill (5.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 9 K), who showed a lot of toughness after getting hit in the face by a ball early in the game but kept playing. The win went to redshirt junior Dalton Feeney (1.0 IP, 2 H), while junior Evan Justice (3.0 IP, 2 H) got the save.
The Pack finished with five home runs and 11 hits and scored the highest number of runs since it put up 20 against Boston College on April 9. The team has now won four straight ACC games.
The series continues on Saturday, May 1 at 4 p.m. and Sunday, May 2 at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
