After a broad 12-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader against East Carolina on Wednesday, N.C. State battled for 11 innings in the second game, but came away with a 9-8 loss.

“It came down to defense,” coach Lisa Navas said. “That was the difference. We had the game. We were right there.”

The second game lasted for more than three and a half hours as the Wolfpack gave up five runs in the top of the seventh, putting the Pirates ahead 7-4.

State came back to tie the game 7-7 in the bottom of the seventh on an Allison Presnell RBI, her seventh of the evening. Presnell broke a school record for consecutive RBIs in the first game with six. Two were home runs.

“I really focused on swinging at good pitches and not getting into her camp,” Presnell said. “I was just lucky to have good pitches and drive them the opposite way.”

A passed ball allowed ECU to steal home, taking the lead. The Pack responded by tying the game on a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth.

The clincher came in the top of the 11th inning when ECU scored on a ground ball to short stop.

ECU started the first game with a two-run lead in the first inning, but strong at-bats quickly put the Pack on the board, culminating in the 10-run win.

In addition to Presnell’s hits, Heather Gelbard added four RBIs of her own.

The second game started with an early lead for the Pack, but State lost the lead in the seventh inning. Shaina Ervin pitched the first seven innings, giving up six hits and seven runs.

“It feels like crap to lose, especially to a team you’re better than,” Ervin said. “We fought. We showed a lot of heart, but we were missing something — that extra something. We needed to find it in order to execute in the later part of the game, get tougher in the seventh inning.

“We had a lot more run production in the first game. We scored almost every inning. This game we seemed a little bit relaxed with a four-run lead, but you have to learn from it and move on.”

Abbie Sims finished the game, coming in for the top of the eighth. Sims gave up no hits and two runs. Behind her, defensive errors cost the Pack allowing runners to advance on passed balls.

“I believed that we could get it done, that we could get the hit that we needed,” Navas said. “We used every single person we had on the team, and we just didn’t get it done. We were lacking that extra hit.”

The Pack travels to Blacksburg, Va., this weekend to face Virginia Tech.