The No. 13 NC State baseball team fell to the No. 15 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 8-3 at home on Saturday in the second game of the series, suffering its first series loss of the season.
The Wolfpack (2-3, 0-2 ACC) came back from an early two-run deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning lead but saw the Yellow Jackets (5-1, 2-0 ACC) score six unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh innings, which was too much to overcome.
“We’re not utilizing all the things that we have as an offense,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “…We don’t have the arms, maybe that some teams have… It’s still early in the season…. I think our bullpen is a little thin.”
Freshman right-handed pitcher Sam Highfill (6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 7 K) got the start on the mound for NC State, and early on it looked like he might be in for a long day as he gave up runs in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the inning, sophomore catcher Luca Tresh (2 for 4, 2 RBI, 2 HR) got the Pack on the board with a solo home run to make the score 2-1 at the end of the first.
After a scoreless second inning by both teams, the Pack tied up the score in the bottom of the third as junior first baseman Austin Murr (2 for 4, RBI, HR) hit a solo home run to make the score 2-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, Tresh delivered once again in his second plate appearance, hitting another solo home run to give the Pack its first lead of the series 3-2. While the Wolfpack bats had an underwhelming performance as a whole, Tresh was a bright spot for the offense with his two home runs.
“I’m seeing it well,” Tresh said. “Obviously, it wasn’t enough for today… We’ve got a really good offense and we just need to figure some things out.”
After giving up the two runs early in the game, Highfill posted a shutout through the next four innings, and it wasn’t until a wild pitch in the sixth inning that he allowed another run, which tied the score 3-3. While the bullpen struggled, the play of Highfill was a bright spot after allowing just one run between the second and sixth innings.
“I made a couple of mistakes early,” Highfill said. “I think it was good to switch up arm slots – I think that helped me out a lot the next four innings… It was good to bounce back after the first inning.”
Senior left-handed pitcher Kent Klyman (0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER) came in the game for Highfill to start the seventh inning, and that’s when the game got ugly in a hurry for the Wolfpack as the Yellow Jackets hit a three-run home run and quickly followed that up with a solo home run to take a 7-3 lead. Freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Willadsen (1 IP, ER, K) came in the game for Klyman, but the Yellow Jackets hit another solo home run right after the change to take an 8-3 lead at the end of the seventh.
There would be no more scoring after that as the Pack went scoreless for the last five innings.
While the first two ACC games have not gone the way NC State would have hoped, the Pack plays 36 ACC games this season and has a long time to figure things out, starting tomorrow with another game against the Yellow Jackets. That game is at 1 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.
