NC State splits series at UNC after cancellation of finale

Wolfpack currently sits at 2nd in the ACC standings with one weekend left

NC State and North Carolina split a crucial series in Chapel Hill over the weekend… err… end of last week as both teams are vying for a potential ACC title entering the final week of the regular season. The series played Thursday-Friday-Sunday due to parking concerns on the Chapel Hill campus with graduation ceremonies on Saturday. Sunday weather in the area ended up canceling the series finale. Seems like some foresight on behalf of the UNC administration could have made something happen, but alas, a split it is.

With the weekend now a wrap in ACC play, NC State sits in second place at 16-9 (.640) with a home series against Stanford remaining. Florida State (16-8, .667) sits in first place with a home series remaining against 4th place North Carolina (16-10, .615). Georgia Tech (17-10, .630) is in 3rd place with a trip to 5th place Duke (16-11, .593) remaining. No other team has a shot at the conference regular season title.

The series opener went to the Tar Heels as the Wolfpack bats were stymied by all night by UNC starter Jake Knapp (8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), who was a weak contact machine on the evening. State actually struck first – a rarity for this team of late – with a Josh Hogue solo home bomb in the top of the 1st inning.

Unfortunately, that was all the scoring on the evening in a 8-1 loss. The Pack put the leadoff man on in the 2nd inning via an Alex Sosa single, but a double play followed which kicked off a run of 18 straight State batters being retired. Brayden Fraasman eventually ended that run with a one-out single in the 8th inning, but it still couldn’t get the offense going.

State finally chased Knapp in the top of the 9th with a pair of singles from Matt Heavner and Luke Nixon, but no runs could be pushed across and the deficit was too large to overcome.

Not a single Pack batter reached base multiple times in the game.

After not pitching at Miami thanks to a Sunday rainout the week prior, Ryan Marohn started the series opener at UNC. The sophomore lefty was roughed up pretty good (6.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 K), but he should be pretty well rested heading into next weekend when he’s likely to move back to his series finale role in the rotation. Jaxon Lucas (1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) finished out the game for State with the Pack saving the bullpen for the remainder of the series.

Friday night’s game was a much different affair in almost every way, with the exception being that the Wolfpack again struck first blood. Nixon started off the game with a single and Chris McHugh followed with a single of his own to put men on the corners with no outs. A Hogue walk loaded the bases and Justin DeCriscio brought home Nixon with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. Unfortunately, that was all the runs State could muster in the inning.

The game remained at that score until the 5th inning as Dominic Fritton was dealing for State, including working out of a bases loaded, 1-out jam in the 2nd inning. He settled in from there.

State also squandered a 2-on, 1-out opportunity in the 3rd inning, but it wouldn’t do so in the 5th. Heavner and Nixon led off with back-to-back singles to put men on the corners. McHugh then lofted a double down into the right field corner to score Heavner and push the Pack lead to a pair.

Hogue then singled home Nixon to make it 3-0, and one out later Sosa doubled home another run despite some sweet interpretive dance moves from the Tar Heels right fielder.

UNC was able to put three runners on across the 5th and 6th innings, but Fritton didn’t allow a single one of them to cross. It appeared the 4-0 lead would carry State to an easy victory, but then things changed in the bottom of the 7th inning.

The half inning started with a lineout and an infield single for UNC. Fritton and Jackson Van De Brake put together a nice battle with Van De Brake pulling some hard hit foul balls, but clearly being way out in front of all of Fritton’s off-speed offerings. After setting up the UNC second baseman with an up and in fastball for a ball and a 2-2 count, the pitch call was curiously a fastball inside instead of an off-speed away, and the result was a 2-run home run to make it a 4-2 game instead of a strikeout.

Lefty Luke Stevenson was then set to come to the plate and Fritton had his number all night to the tune of an 0-for-3 line with a pair of strikeouts and a weak pop up in the infield. With Fritton barely over 100 pitches, the choice was made to go to the bullpen and bring in righty Anderson Nance. No doubt, Nance has put together an incredible rookie season, but the right call there would have been to let Fritton face Stevenson and then pull him with righty Gavin Gallaher coming up after him.

Instead, Stevenson hit a home run to dead centerfield, just barely clearing the wall and making it a 1-run game. Nance settled in from there, but it went from a cushy State lead to a nail-biter in a hurry.

State was able to claw a run back in the top of the 8th. With two outs, Ty Head lofted a soft two-strike single into shallow left field, then advanced to second on a slight bobble by the UNC left fielder. Heavner turned Head’s hustle into a run one batter later for a 5-3 State lead.

This is when the next questionable decision came from the Pack coaching staff. With a two-run lead late, this is when a defensive substitution in the outfield would have been appropriate, but with Hogue due up 2nd in the top of the 9th, the State staff rolled the dice. Nance recorded two quick outs and then induced a high fly ball down the left field line that should have been the inning-ender. Instead, Hogue completely overran the ball, with it ending up being a double since he came nowhere near gloving it. A pair of singles followed resulting in a pair of runs and a tie game.

Thankfully, Hogue had an immediate opportunity for redemption. McHugh was hit on the hand for like the 87th time this year, putting the leadoff man on. He then advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch, and Hogue put the Pack back on top with a single up the middle.

Jet Gilliam pinch ran for Hogue. DeCriscio and Sosa both hit singles to load the bases with nobody out. Fraasman brought home Gilliam with a deep sacrifice fly to centerfield and Matt Ossenfort put a single up the middle to score DeCriscio and give State some cushion with an 8-5 lead.

Andrew Shaffner came on for the 9th inning, making Stevenson look silly on a inning-starting strikeout before walking Gallaher on four pitches. DeCriscio made an amazing play up the middle to start a 6-4-3 double play on a Hunter Stokely ground ball to end the game.

It was an excellent effort from the Wolfpack and very characteristic of this team, overcoming some shortcomings and miscues – both physical and mental – with resolve and effort to pull out a necessary win.

Hogue (3-for-4, 2 RBI, BB), Nixon (2-for-4, 2 R, BB), McHugh (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB, HBP), Sosa (2-for-5, 2B, RBI), and Heavner (2-for-5, R, RBI) led the way offensively. Fritton (6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) was fantastic in working out of jams all night and keeping the Tar Heels at bay. Nance (1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) pitched way better than his final line indicated in earning the win to move to 8-1 on the year. Shaffner (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K) earned his 7th save of the year with an 11-pitch 9th inning.

As mentioned, the series finale on Sunday ended up being cancelled. The series was scheduled without a Saturday game to allow for UNC’s graduation ceremonies and lack of parking (?) around campus. With all signs indicating rain for the majority of Sunday afternoon, the game should have been moved up and/or moved elsewhere Saturday. It could have also been moved to Sunday morning. If Boshamer Stadium could handle rain better (shoutout to the recent renovations at NC State’s Doak Field that allow it to handle inclement weather like a boss) the game could have been played later on Sunday as the weather did provide a multi-hour window. Alas, it wasn’t to be and the teams ended with a split.

This coming weekend will be a Thursday start for all series across the ACC ahead of the following week’s ACC Tournament in Durham. The Wolfpack will need to sweep Stanford and then get a little help from the Tar Heels, needing their rivals in Chapel Hill to take a game from Florida State. If that happens, NC State will take home the ACC regular season title for the first time since 1986.

First pitch Thursday in Raleigh against the Cardinal is set for 6:00pm.