In game one of an opening day doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 21, the No. 11 NC State baseball team took down Davidson convincingly, 13-3. The win was highlighted by a 10-run fifth inning for the Wolfpack offense.
The Wolfpack bats exploded for 17 hits on the day with all nine starters recording at least one hit. Leading the way for the Wolfpack were junior right fielder Devonte Brown, who had three hits and two RBIs, and junior second baseman J.T. Jarrett, who also had three hits on the day.
In the first inning, Davidson starting pitcher Alex Fenton walked the first three Wolfpack batters to load the bases. Despite the early opportunity, NC State only mustered one run in the frame. It came off a fielder’s choice double play to the shortstop off the bat of junior left fielder Jonny Butler.
The Wolfpack doubled its lead in the second inning with a two-out RBI single to center field from junior first baseman Austin Murr. Scoring was junior center fielder Terrell Tatum, who led off the inning with an infield single.
The Wildcats responded in the third inning with a solo home run to left field from Alex Fedje-Johnson to cut the Wolfpack lead in half. Then, in the fifth inning, Fedje-Johnson continued to give NC State trouble as he drove in another run to tie the game with a two-out single up the middle.
In the bottom half of the frame, Butler, Brown, Tatum, Jarrett, and freshman designated hitter Noah Soles put together five straight singles with one out, resulting in three more runs for the Wolfpack as it took back control of the game.
This was the end of the line for Fenton, who went 4.1 innings allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits. After the change of pitchers, NC State continued to pour it on in the fifth inning. Murr came up and hit a single into left field that scored two more runs for the Wolfpack.
Right after him, sophomore third baseman Tyler McDonough and sophomore catcher Luca Tresh each had RBI singles then Brown hit a two-RBI single. The Wolfpack’s final run of the inning was on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Tatum. The fifth inning in total resulted in 10 runs on nine hits for the Wolfpack.
Pitching-wise for NC State, junior left-handed pitcher Evan Justice started and threw 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball while striking out two batters. Relieving him was junior right-handed pitcher Reid Johnston, who went 3.1 innings allowing two earned runs on three hits.
The first batter of the sixth inning for the Wildcats, Parker Nolan, launched a solo home run to left field off the new Wolfpack pitcher, junior lefty David Harrison, to give them their third and final run of the game. The Wolfpack got in on the home run fun in the seventh inning when Butler lined a solo bomb over the right field wall.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Andrew Tillery, freshman left-handed pitcher Tristan Sipple, and freshman right-handed pitcher Coby Ingle finished the game on the mound for NC State. The trio combined for three scoreless innings.
Game two against Davidson from Doak Field is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Follow @TechSports on Twitter for live coverage.
