The N.C. State baseball team (17-12 overall, 5-7 ACC) took on the No. 21 ranked East Carolina Pirates at Doak Field Tuesday and walked away with a 4-2 win. The Pack had just come off a three-game series with the Wake Forest Deacons this past weekend where they won two out of three games.

The team and coaches along with the rest of the Pack fans had the opportunity to welcome back Olney Ray “Lefty” Freeman. Freeman pitched for State back in the 1930s and is currently the only living person to have struck out Babe Ruth. The honorary pitch of the game was thrown by Freeman to mark the 76th anniversary of his strikeout against the “Great Bambino” back in a 1935 Exhibition match against the National League Boston Braves.

The game started out slow for the Wolfpack, as both sides went without a hit for the first two innings. However, the game started heating up in third inning when the Pack was down after a two-rub homerun by ECU. State responded late in the third with a solo homer by sophomore infielder Matt Bergquist.

Through the beginning of the fourth inning, the Pack began to pick up its defense as back-to-back double plays allowed them to keep the ECU Pirates from securing any hits or runs. Both teams seemed unable to beat each other’s pitchers, as ECU pitcher Zach Woods had accumulated seven strike outs by that point. State sent in freshman D.J. Thomas, which seemed to slow down ECU’s hits.

“D.J. [Thomas] did a great job for us,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “[Danny] Healey got us off to a decent start, and then having D.J. come in to a packed house with pressure still showed us he could do it.”

At the top of the seventh inning, the Pack put in sophomore Chris Overman to pitch for D.J. Thomas. This inning looked to be a important one for the Pack as sophomore Chris Diaz was able to get on base. Late in the seventh, a bunt opportunity by redshirt senior catcher Chris Schaeffer allowed for the bases to be loaded as back to back errors by ECU pitcher Shawn Armstrong gave the Pack a chance to advance one base at a time.

Overman said he was pleased with his outing and that he can deal with the pressure of a tight ball game.

“It’s been going well, it’s been clicking,” said sophomore pitcher Chris Overman. “I just try and go out there and make pitches and get strikes. When coach puts me in a tight ball game I try to give it my all and if I am throwing good, I expect to finish it all out there.”

The climax of the game followed through the bottom of the seventh inning as junior Pratt Maynard secured a two RBI, three-run hit to allow Diaz and Williams to bring home the runs. ECU followed up the multiple errors and runs by putting in a new pitcher, Seth Simmons. Continued sacrifice hits by Ciencin allowed for Schaeffer to bring home another run for the Pack, bringing the score to N.C. State 4, ECU 2.

“I just stepped in the box and tried to get a pitch I could hit,” said junior Pratt Maynard. “He threw me a slider and I was able to hit it well enough and secure the RBIs. The way we are playing right now should go well into the weekend. Miami is a good team and so are we.”

Through the eighth inning the Doak Field scoreboard was lined with zeros, as ECU was unable to compete with State’s strong pitching and defensive plays. The Pack fought through the innings making sure not to give up any errors or hits. Relief pitcher Chris Overman was able to continue to hold down Doak Field.

“Overman has been playing good for four or five weeks now,” said Avent. “We always knew he was competitive, he has stepped up this year and continues to grow. By continuing to play and finish strong he shows us how good he feels about himself.”

This weekend N.C. State will be headed to Florida to take on University of Miami to continue its ACC series as they continue their season, slowly approaching the mid-way of their schedule.