The NC State softball team winning streak ended at eight games as the No. 15 LSU Tigers swept a doubleheader on Saturday, April 17 at Dail Softball Stadium. The first game was a 2-1 loss, highlighted by a solid outing from freshman left-handed pitcher Estelle Czech, while the second was characterized by an unrelenting Tiger offense in a six-inning 13-2 mercy result.
Redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Sydney Nester took the circle in the first game for the Pack (22-13) and LSU (26-14) sent out right-handed pitcher Ali Kilponen. Nester’s start was short-lived, as she loaded the bases while only recording one out. Nester then got the hook in favor of Czech, who remained in for the rest of the game. The Tigers only managed to squeeze one sacrifice fly out of that bases-loaded, one-out scenario as Czech established her control over the game by forcing two fly outs.
NC State responded quickly by tying the game at 1-1 when redshirt junior third baseman Logan Morris hit a sacrifice fly of her own in the bottom of the first, scoring redshirt senior center fielder Angie Rizzi from third.
Czech and Kilponen went toe-to-toe for the next two innings. A hit by pitch on redshirt sophomore second baseman April Visser resulted in the only baserunner until the fourth inning, when both squads left two runners on base. The deadlock continued into the fifth and sixth, as the two starting pitchers combined for two hits, one walk and five punchouts between those two innings.
“She went out as a freshman against a ranked team and she threw pretty well,” said head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. “Especially in the first game, coming in for [Sydney] and pounding the zone, getting some swings and misses and getting weak contact.”
Czech was the first of the two hurlers to slip up, as she surrendered a leadoff solo homer to LSU second baseman Taylor Tidwell, giving the Tigers a 2-1 advantage in the seventh inning. Despite allowing a one-out double to put a runner in scoring position, the southpaw escaped the frame without any further damage.
“The only difference was we didn’t get the big hit,” Patrick-Swift said. “We missed one pitch and that was the pitch they hit out, so it came down to one swing, and it was theirs and not ours.”
The Wolfpack went out with a whimper in the bottom of the seventh, going down in order to the tune of a ground out and two strikeouts, ending the first game of the doubleheader. The loss snapped an eight-game win streak for NC State and set up a rubber game for the latter half of the doubleheader.
Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Abby Trahan started the second game for the Pack while LSU went with right-handed pitcher Shelby Wickersham for the series finale. Trahan took care of business in the top of the first, but the frame was highlighted by redshirt junior shortstop Randi Farricker’s bullet to first base on a hard grounder to nab the runner for the third out.
The Wolfpack threatened to open the scoring in the bottom of the first but could not cash in on two runners in scoring position. Redshirt junior catcher Sam Sack hit a sharp grounder up the middle that was batted down by Wickersham, resulting in Sack’s first hit in 16 at-bats and a two-on, two-out scenario for Farricker. Farricker was unable to convert those baserunners into runs, however, as she struck out to end the inning.
The Tigers landed the first punch in the top of the second with a leadoff home run by first baseman Raeleen Gutierrez, putting the Tigers up 1-0. Trahan limited the damage by recovering quickly, only allowing one baserunner before ending the top half of the second.
The Wolfpack punched back with a two-run dinger from redshirt senior outfielder Brigette Nordberg in the bottom of the inning. After a leadoff single by redshirt senior right fielder Tatyana Forbes, Nordberg went yard to left field to give the Pack a 2-1 advantage.
Despite a two-out rally that put runners on first and second, NC State could not add to its lead. Trahan entered the third with a lead to work with, but that lead quickly vanished when LSU scored two more on a two-run shot by left fielder Ciara Briggs. The homer gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead and spelled the end of Trahan’s night, as Nester immediately entered the game from the bullpen. Nester was able to quell the Tiger’s momentum and end the frame.
Nester’s success was quickly countered by LSU, as the Tigers scored three runs in the top of the fourth. Nester’s lack of pitch control was the primary culprit, as her four walks fueled the breakout inning, three of them coming before the first out. The righty was eventually able to escape the jam but not before LSU extended its lead to 6-2.
“It’s pretty hard when defensively and pitching wise we’re giving up so many walks and we’re walking runs in,” Patrick-Swift said. “It gets to the point where offensively that’s a lot of pressure to know ‘okay, I’ve got to go in there against some of the best pitchers in the country and put up five, six, seven, eight runs.’ At the end of the day, in the second game we just gave them too much. We made it too easy, we put people on, we hit people, we walked people and that’s where someone comes up and gets a single or a double and scores three runs. We just gave them too much free stuff in the second game.”
The Pack missed an opportunity to put itself back in the game in the bottom of the fourth as it left the bases loaded. Rizzi absorbed a 1-0 pitch to put runners on first and second with two outs. Russ then drew a walk to load the bases for Morris, but she grounded out to shortstop to end the frame.
The Tigers were not done putting up runs as they tacked on three runs to a 9-2 lead in the top of the fifth via a bases-clearing, two-out double.
LSU racked up four runs on four hits to pad its lead to 13-2 heading into the middle of the sixth. The Pack was unable to keep the game going, as it went down in order to finalize the loss.
“The big thing is we’ve got a mid-week coming up against Furman,” Patrick-Swift said. “They’ve played some power five teams well so we’re certainly prepared for that. Our mindset is always ‘our next game is our most important game’ so we’re going to be focused on that…I’m excited to go to battle with this team and these kids in the next couple of weeks and see what we can do.”
The Wolfpack will finish its homestand on Wednesday, April 21 in a doubleheader against the Furman Paladins. The games are set to start at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
