Pack blanks UNCG, 10-0; play Campbell Wednesday

NC State improves to 7-5; will take on 4-8 Camels in Raleigh

NC State used three home runs among six extra-base hits on Tuesday to down UNCG by a final score of 10-0 in Greensboro. The win puts the Wolfpack at 7-5 on the season ahead of an 8-game homestand.

Cooper Consiglio (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K) and Anderson Nance (5.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP) combined for the shutout on the bump for the Pack. The game marked the first instance this season in which the Pack’s pitchers have not issued a walk. It was a welcome change for Consiglio, who had struggled with control over his first four appearances this year (7 BB over 4.2 IP). Nance picked up his first collegiate win in the relief effort.

State drew first blood as Justin DeCriscio hit a leadoff triple to start the game and scored one batter later on a Luke Nixon RBI groundout. That ended up being all the scoring the Pack needed, but they wouldn’t stop there.

Nixon led off the 4th inning with a beautiful bunt single and Chris McHugh followed that up with an absolute bomb of a 2-run home run.

With Consiglio and Nance dealing, the score remained at 3-0 until the 8th inning when State used a 5-run frame to blow the game open. Nixon had an RBI triple and McHugh an RBI single in the inning before Alex Sosa crushed a 2-run shot out to right, his 4th home run of the year.

Josh Hogue followed two outs later with his first dinger of the year.

State added two more runs in the 9th without a ball leaving the infield, putting the final tally at 10-0.

It was nice to see State’s hitters tee off on a Spartans pitching staff that has put together some impressive efforts, including blanking Wake Forest just two weeks ago in a midweek game with both of the pitchers from that game featuring in this one. Nixon (2-for-4, 3B, 3 R, 2 RBI, HBP), McHugh (3-for-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI), Hogue (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI, BB), Ryan Jaros (2-for-5, 2B), and Sosa (1-for-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB) led the way.

The Wolfpack will return to Raleigh for a 3:00pm Wednesday game with Campbell (ACCNX broadcast). The Camels are off to a rough 4-8 start under first-year head coach Chris Marx, although among their wins are midweek victories over East Carolina and Duke.

Don’t let the 4-8 record fool you, though. Among the losses are a season-opening series sweep at 16th-ranked UC Santa Barbara. The Camels are 4-5 since with just a 1-3 record in one-run games.

Like the Pack, the Camels also played Tuesday afternoon, but unlike State, Campbell lost their game (a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Liberty). The Camels enter the matchup with NC State hitting .268/.379/.427 as a team with a 9.0 BB% and 22.3 K%. Despite having a new head coach, two items that have carried over from previous coach Justin Haire are an aggressive attitude on the bases (25-of-28 in stolen bases) and a willingness to wear pitches (32 HBP).

Redshirt-SO C Andrew Schuldt (.385/.528/.744, 8 2B, 2 HR, 18.9 BB%, 11.3 K%, 2-2 SB), SO SS Darnell Parker (.471/.604/.647, 3 2B, 1 HR, 12.5 BB%, 14.6 K%, 5-6 SB), and FR OF Jett Music (.407/.500/.593, 3 2B, 0 HR, 11.8 BB%, 23.5 K%, 2-2 SB) lead the way in a lineup that features five players hitting over .320, but has struggled to find consistent production otherwise.

The Camels pitching staff sports a 5.57 ERA, 11.4 BB%, and 22.4 K%. Staff ace SR LHP Jake Murray (0-1, 3.68 ERA, 14.2 IP, 4.6 BB%, 32.3 K%) has been outstanding aside from some HBP (5) and HR (3) issues. Weekday starter rSO RHP Mason Smith (1-1, 2.76 ERA, 16.1 IP, 9.4 BB%, 26.6 K%) is a candidate to move to the weekend rotation once conference play kicks in. He just tossed 7.0 innings of 2-hit, 2-run ball against Liberty on Tuesday, and his two other appearances/starts have been against East Carolina and Duke.

The rest of the pitching staff has been a mixed bag, and it’s likely that the Camels throw the kitchen sink at the Pack on Wednesday. All-Name Team candidate Jett Music (1-1, 5.68 ERA, 6.1 IP, 10.0 BB%, 36.7 K%) is also an intriguing option on the mound as a RHP, as like Smith, two of his outings have come against the Pirates and Blue Devils.