Pack Baseball drops series at Duke

The good news is the RPI continued to move up…?

NC State failed to play the role of Johnny this weekend as Duke stole the series, dropping the Pack to 5-4 in ACC play while the Blue Devils improved to 7-5.

Friday’s game was all about Duke’s pitching as Owen Proksch and Reid Easterly combined for 8.0 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 3 hits, 5 walks, and 2 HBP, countered with 7 strikeouts. As you can see from the numbers, the Pack’s hitters had a solid approach in the game, it’s just that the hits weren’t falling while Proksch and Easterly were getting a lot of weak contact. State’s lone run in the 5-1 loss came in the 9th against Gabe Nard.

The Pack’s pitching Friday was solid, but there was next to no margin for error with how Duke’s hurlers were going. Dom Fritton (5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) was his normal reliable self. Aside from a pair of Ben Miller solo home runs he allowed, the 5th inning was his only spot of trouble. Matt Willadsen (2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) pitched the remainder of the game for State as he continues to work back from Tommy John Surgery. His 51 pitches were a season-high.

Ty Head (2-for-4) had half of State’s hits in the game, while Chris McHugh (0-for-1, 2 BB) and Alex Sosa (0-for-2, BB, HBP) both reached multiple times.

State’s bats came alive in the Saturday matchup with the Wolfpack prevailing by a final score of 14-6. The game was more of a back-and-forth affair than the final score would lead you to believe. Duke jumped up 2-0 in the first before State responded with a 4-spot in the 2nd. The teams traded single runs before Duke tied the game up in the bottom of the 5th.

From there, the pack cruised thanks to a 2-run Ryan Jaros home run in the 6th and a Luke Nixon solo shot in the 7th. State added four more runs in the 8th before Justin DeCriscio and Alex Sosa each homered in the 9th. Duke made a bit of noise in the bottom of the 9th, but plated only a single run to put the game at it’s final tally.

In addition to State’s bats coming alive, freshman RHP Anderson Nance (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 5 K) was the story of the game. He probably should have been lifted for the 9th inning, but he was lights out until that final frame when he was clearly fatigued having thrown a season/career high 89 pitches. It was a brilliant performance for the Eden, NC, native.

Wolfpack starter Heath Andrews (4.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K) wasn’t the sharpest with his 85 pitches, turning in his worst start of the season. Still, he continues to keep the Pack in a position to win games, as evidenced by State’s 6-1 record in games he starts this year.

DeCriscio (3-for-5, 2 2B, HR, 3 R, RBI), Jaros (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, HBP), Brayden Fraasman (2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB, 1-1 SB), Nixon (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, HBP), and Sosa (2-for-4, HR, 3 R, RBI, BB) paced the offense, while Matt Heavner (0-for-1, 2 RBI, HBP, 2 sac bunts) was a “do the job” machine. Head (1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, HBP) also reached safely multiple times.

Sunday continued to be the Pack’s enemy as what was a pitchers’ duel for the first three innings turned into a Duke rout. State took the lead in the top of the 4th on a Josh Hogue solo home run, but Pack defensive miscues and some lucky hits on the Blue Devils’ part resulted in a 5-spot in the frame. Four more Duke runs in the 5th made it a 9-1 game and it was mostly procedural from there in a 16-6 run-rule shortened Duke win. State did manage to put up five runs across the final three frames of the game, but Duke scored seven runs over that same span, so not too much in the positive there.

Ryan Marohn (4.1 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 5 K) was solid for the first three innings, but the second time through the order was his undoing. Duke didn’t hit him as hard as his line indicates, but the hits did fall and the freebies (walks, HBP, wild pitches, passed balls, errors) didn’t help things.

Jacob Dudan (1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K) was the lone bright spot of the day among the Pack hurlers. Dudan continues to round into form, which is huge for a State bullpen which appears in a state of disarray right now. Absent an appearance from Andrew Shaffner for the weekend, Cooper Consiglio (0.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K), Carson Kelly (1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K), and Derrick Smith (0.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 0 K) were the other arms out of the pen, with each struggling to various degrees.

Hogue (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI) was the lone Pack batter with multiple hits in Sunday’s game. DeCriscio (1-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, HBP) also reached safely multiple times, while Jaros and Fraasman each went deep with solo home runs.

Here are some highlights from the weekend:

The silver lining on the weekend is that despite the series loss – and the midweek drubbing at the hands of USC Upstate – the Wolfpack’s RPI continued to rise, now up to 52nd.

This week will see UNCG and Virginia come to town. Tuesday’s game with the Spartans and Friday’s opener with the Cavaliers are both set for 6:00pm first pitches. Sunday’s series finale with Virginia will be broadcast on the ACC Network. All other games this week will be on the ACCNX.