The NC State baseball team dropped its second game in a row against Clemson 9-3 Saturday night at Doak Field after trailing almost the entire game.
The Wolfpack (9-11, 4-10 ACC) went down early and could never crawl its way all the way back against the Tigers (14-10, 8-6 ACC). Clemson got a strong performance from its left-handed starter Keyshawn Askew (6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 K), who kept the Wolfpack bats cold for the majority of the night.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Sam Highfill (6.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 6 K) was effective at times, but the long ball hurt him as he gave up a pair of two-run home runs during his outing. Junior second baseman J.T. Jarrett (3-4, RBI, R) was a bright spot for the Wolfpack offense leading the team with three hits.
Clemson opened the scoring with a bang in the second inning as Alex Urban crushed a two-run home run to left field to give it a 2-0 lead.
The Wolfpack responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame. Jarrett ripped an RBI single just past the second baseman. Scoring was freshman shortstop Jose Torres (0-4, 1 R), who reached on an error to lead off the inning.
Clemson reasserted itself offensively in the fifth inning when Dylan Brewer launched a two-run home run to right-center field to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead. It was his third bomb of the weekend.
The Tigers extended their lead by two in the seventh inning in an unconventional way. The first run was on a balk while later in the inning they got another run on a passed ball.
NC State did not back down as it got a two-RBI double down the right field line from junior first baseman Austin Murr (1-4, 2 RBI) in the seventh inning to cut the lead to 6-3. Scoring was Jarrett and junior right fielder Devonte Brown (0-2, HBP, BB).
In the ninth inning the Tigers got their third home run of the game, this time a solo shot to left field from Bryce Teodosio. Then, an RBI double down the left field line from Brewer kept the scoring going. Later in the frame, he came in to score on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 9-3.
The Wolfpack went down in order in both the eighth inning and ninth inning to shush any murmurs of a late-inning rally.
NC State will be back in action for game three of the series Sunday, April 4 at 1 p.m. The game will be televised online on ACC Network Extra.
