Fritton’s control issues coupled with offensive no-show end in loss
Not really a lot to write about this one. Dom Fritton struggled with control, walking six batters over 4.2 innings of work, which helped lead to five runs crossing the plate for Ohio State. With the Wolfpack lineup mustering just six hits and failing to come up with the big hit on several opportunities, it just wasn’t going to happen.
The end result: an 8-3 loss to Ohio State.
Fritton (4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 6 BB, 4 K) threw a career-high 109 pitches and was left out there probably one batter too long. In the 5th inning with two outs, he misplayed a chopper up the first base line. The error proved costly as the next hitter, Lee Ellis, put the very next pitch over the outfield wall for a 5-3 Buckeyes lead. That was it.
Andrew Shaffner (1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) came on to get the final out of the 5th, but would give up a pair of runs in the 6th to add to the deficit. Landon Carr (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 0 K) made his Wolfpack debut with a scoreless 7th while Jaxon Lucas (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB 3 K) looked pretty good in his first appearance of the 2025 season, aside from surrendering a leadoff home run to Trey Lipsey to start the 9th.
It was the little things that were costly again for NC State, similar to Tuesday’s loss to Liberty. Fritton walked the first two hitters in the 2nd inning. The third batter then put down a sacrifice bunt along the third base line. With no play to be made and the ball coming off the grass lip and heading back towards the foul line, Ryan Jaros picked it up while it was still moving. Maybe the ball dies in fair territory anyways, but the ball should have been left alone to see if it would go foul, which would have been the second strike of the at-bat.
With that play resulting in the bases loaded, the next batter hit a chopper to Jaros, whose errant throw to the plate allowed two runs to score. The fault there doesn’t completely lie with Jaros, though, as Sosa was already turned for a throw to first base in an attempt at a double play rather than securing the throw at the plate.
Not a death knell in a game where the Pack’s bats didn’t play, but small things like that – as well as Fritton’s error in the 5th inning – add up and can (and will) put the team in a disadvantaged situation.
All three of NC State’s runs scored on a single swing of the bat from Jusin DeCriscio in the 3rd inning, with the 3-run homer tying the game at the time. The Pack managed to get multiple runners on in the 5th (2 on, 0 out), 6th (2 on, 1 out), and 9th (3 on, 0 out), but failed to push across a run in any of those frames.
And so it went. This game just wasn’t to be for NC State. No Wolfpack hitters tallied multiple hits in the game, with Luke Nixon (0-for-3, R, BB, HBP), Matt Ossenfort (1-for-3, BB), and Ryan Jaros (1-for-2, R, BB) being the only batters to reach safely multiple times.
Former Campbell head coach Justin Haire snagged his first win at Ohio State.
The Wolfpack’s next game in the Jax Classic is tomorrow at 4:00pm against Alabama.