On the strength of several defensive plays that prevented runs, No. 21 N.C. State on Wednesday won a tight game 5-3 over North Carolina A&T at Doak Field.

In the eighth inning, with the Wolfpack (6-0) leading 4-3, the Aggies (0-1) had men on first and third with no outs. A&T catcher Neil Rosser tagged up from third on a fly ball C.J. Beatty hit to center field.

Pack center fielder Marcus Jones sprinted in on the ball, caught and threw as Rosser broke from third. The ball bounced several feet in front of home plate and into the waiting mitt of catcher Caleb Mangum, who handled the throw and made the tag to prevent the tying run from scoring.

Jones said his instinct took over when he heard the ping of the bat.

“I saw that it was going to be pretty shallow, so I just ran in as fast as I could so I could catch it in the air,” Jones said. “I heard everyone yelling, ‘Tagging, tagging.’ I just had to catch it and get rid of it as fast as I could. I was biting my tongue after I threw it. I short-hopped Caleb a little bit, but he was able to make the play, like he usually does.”

Mangum said judging by how hard Jones was charging on the ball, he knew it was going to be a close play at the plate.

“I knew it was going to be shallow enough for him to make a throw,” Mangum said. “It was a good throw — short-hopped me a little bit, but I was able to hang on and make the tag.”

State coach Elliott Avent said Jones played the ball perfectly, and that’s why Mangum was able to close out the play with a “big out.”

“He played it just like you work on it every day,” Avent said. “It just shows all the hard work he puts in. He played it perfectly; he got behind the ball, came in, threw it and made a great throw. Caleb made a great pick-up and just stuck his nose in there. That’s how Caleb Mangum is. He’s a hard-nosed player.”

With no outs and a man on first in the top of the ninth inning, Aggie right fielder Charlie Gamble hit a hard grounder up the middle. The ball careened off Pack closer Eryk McConnell only to be picked up by second baseman Vince Gutierrez, who promptly turned a double play.

“That was a big-time play,” Avent said. “We would have been looking at first-and-third, and it would have been a different situation. He just made an unbelievable play.”

The Pack also came up with hits when it needed them.

Down two runs in the fourth inning, designated hitter Mike Roskopf singled into right field. Pack right fielder Ryan Pond followed Roskopf with a two-out hit of his own: a two-run home run over the left field wall to tie the game 2-2.

Pond’s home run erased just the second deficit State had faced this year. The Wolfpack trailed William & Mary 3-1 in the third inning of the third game of its series against the Tribe on Feb. 11.

“We were down to a club we realized was really, really good, and Pond hit a big two-out homer after Roskopf managed to get on with two outs,” Avent said.

Mangum gave State its first lead of the game in his first at-bat of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Pinch-hitting for catcher David Lindsay, Mangum hit a two-ball, two-strike pitch over the left field wall to give the Pack a 3-2 lead.

Mangum, recovering from a stress fracture to his right shin, was held out of the starting lineup.

Avent said it was a good game for the Pack because the team played an error-free game, and “we made big plays.”

“We played great defense,” he said. “We played from behind against a good baseball team. When you can come from behind and win, and not have any panic in the dugout — just knowing that you’re going to win — that’s something good.”