Wolfpack takes huge series from Virginia

NC State improves to 7-5 in ACC play

Following a series loss last weekend to Duke, NC State faced a crucial series in Raleigh with a Virginia squad that was a preseason favorite to return to the College World Series. The Wolfpack came through big by winning the last two games of the series to improve to 21-11 overall and 7-5 in ACC play. The Cavaliers fell to 17-13 overall and 7-8 in ACC games.

This very well could have been a series sweep for State, but the Friday game saw the Pack squander a 4-1 lead in the 6th inning with a 8-6 loss.

State scored first in the Friday opener, plating a run in the 2nd inning on a Ty Head single to score Justin DeCriscio who reached on a walk and moved up a bag on a Brayden Fraasman single. Virginia tied the game in the 4th on a Henry Ford single, Chris Arroyo double, and Henry Godbout sacrifice fly.

The Pack took the lead back immediately thanks to an error by Virginia 3B Luke Hanson, which allowed Fraasman to reach to start the inning. Head singled to move Fraasman to third, and Ryan Jaros brought him in with a sacrifice fly. An additional pair of runs came across in the 5th inning with Chris McHugh notching a one-out single and scoring on an Alex Sosa double. Sosa later scored on a passed ball after moving to third on walks to DeCriscio and Head.

A 4-1 lead heading into the 6th inning seemed to have State in really good shape, but on a night that was by far the warmest weather of the year for the Pack, Dom Fritton wore down quickly as his pitch total reached then exceeded triple digits. Aidan Teel started the inning with a solo home run then Eric Becker followed with a single. Fritton managed to get a pair of outs, but was clearly laboring ahead of issuing his first walk of the game to Godbout.

That should have been the time to pull him with temps in the mid-80’s and his pitch count sitting at an even 100, but the coaches chose to roll with their ace. There are certainly worse decisions that a staff has made, but Jacob Ference made it a glaringly bad choice by crushing a 3-run homer.

Fritton stayed in for two more batters, issuing another walk and a single before being lifted for Anderson Nance. Forty-three of Fritton’s 116 pitches in the game came in the frame and he finished with a final line of 5.2 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K in being saddled with his 3rd loss of the season.

Nance thankfully didn’t allow either of the two inherited runners to score in the 6th, but things went worse for him in the 7th when he was tagged with three runs while recording just a single out.

The Pack were able to notch a pair of runs in the 9th inning on solo shots from McHugh and Fraasman, and even got the tying run to the plate thanks to a Head walk, but things Jaros struck out to end the game.

Lest I don’t point out the latest in a long string of great catches from Ty Head:

On the bright spot of the pitching front for the Pack on Friday were scoreless relief efforts from Carson Kelly (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K), Tristan Potts (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K), and Camden Wimbish (0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K).

Head (3-for-3, 2 BB) reached base safely in all five of his plate appearances in the game. McHugh (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, HBP) reached in four of his five PA while Fraasman (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, RBI) joined them in the multi-hit club. DeCriscio (1-for-3, R, 2 BB) had a nice day at the plate.

State flexed their muscle on Saturday to even the series with a great all-around performance. An error-free defensive effort backed Heath Andrews (6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, HBP, 4 ) and Andrew Shaffner (3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K), combining to keep Virginia from ever really threatening. Andrews improved to 3-1 on the year while Shaffner picked up his 4th save of the year.

Virginia actually held the lead in the game for a short while, scratching a run in the opening frame on a Teel leadoff walk, Becker single, and Ford GIDP. DeCriscio erased that lead with a leadoff homer in the 2nd inning.

Luke Nixon and Brandon Novy put together back-to-back one-out singles before Matt Heavner loaded the bases thanks to a fielding error from Hanson. Head brought in a pair of runs with a single, and McHugh made the error costly with a two-out RBI single to give State a 4-1 lead.

The Pack busted things open in the next inning with another multi-run inning. DeCriscio led off with a double and Fraasman followed with a single, but some baserunning shenanigans almost ran State out of the inning as DeCriscio got tagged out in a rundown between 3rd and home. Nixon plated Fraasman on a single and later scored thanks to a pair of wild pitches.

Virginia did put together a two-out rally in the 6th to plate one run, but Andrews worked through it to keep the Pack with a four-run advantage.

Things stayed there until State pushed the lead out to 9-2 in the 8th inning. Josh Hogue doubled with out one, McHugh singled, and Sosa walked to load the bases. DeCriscio had an RBI groundout to score Jet Gilliam, who pinch ran for Hogue, and Fraasman brought home the other two runs with a single.

As you’d expect with a 9-run effort, State had a bevy of players with multiple hits: Nixon (3-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, HBP), McHugh (3-for-5, R, RBI), Hogue (2-for-4, 2 2B, BB), DeCriscio (2-for-5, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI), Fraasman (2-for-5, R, 2 RBI). Sosa (0-for-3, R, 2 BB) and Novy (1-for-2, R, 3 BB) also reached base safely multiple times.

Sunday’s rubber match seemed like it was going to be a Virginia win from the get-go. The Cavaliers put up a trio of runs in the 1st inning on three straight extra-base hits to open the game (Teel 2B, Becker 2B, Ford HR) and then added another run in the 2nd.

State was able to cut the lead briefly to 3-2 in the bottom of the 1st thanks to a DeCriscio home run.

Outside of that massive shot, the Pack bats just couldn’t muster much of anything for much of the game. Wolfpack starter Ryan Marohn was able to settle in for the most part from there, but Virginia got to him and reliever Nance in the 6th and 7th innings, pushing their lead to 8-2 and seeming like they’d return to Charlottesville with the series win in tow.

Thankfully the Pack had other ideas with some nice pinch hit moves paying off well in the 7th inning. Fraasman singled to start the inning. Nixon was hit by a pitch to put men on 1st and 2nd, with Novy loading the bases on a pinch-hit walk. Drew Lanphere then came off the bench to deliver his first home run since February 2024, a grand slam to cut the Virginia lead down to two.

Head singled to keep the good times rolling, but a Hogue double play ended the 7th. State unfortunately had not much going in the 8th, setting up an eventful 9th inning.

The Wahoos put two men on base with one out against Pack reliever Jacob Dudan, thanks to a single and a walk. After a brief mound visit from Lanphere, Dudan came through huge with a first-pitch double play from Godbout to move the game to the bottom of the 9th.

It seemed the comeback would fizzle with back-to-back swinging strikeouts to start the final frame for State. Lanphere came up large again with a single to right field and Head worked a patient walk to bring up Hogue. On a 3-1 count, Hogue did the dang thing.

Man, what a wild ride that was!

State managed just six hits in the game (Virginia had 14) with two of those coming in Lanphere’s two plate appearances after entering as a pitch hitter. The Wendell native was long State batter to notch multiple hits in the game, going 2-for-2 with his grand slam, 2 runs, and 4 RBI. Head (1-for-3, R, 2 BB), DeCriscio (1-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB), and Fraasman (1-for-3, R, BB) each reached safely multiple times.

Dudan (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K) earned the win, while State also got a scoreless relief outing from Tristan Potts (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K). A big difference in the game was State’s arms limiting the freebies (2 BB, 0 HBP) while Virginia’s struggled in that area (7 BB, 1 HBP).

The Cavaliers will certainly be kicking themselves over not capturing the series, one which they desperately needed to get back on the right side of the conference ledger with five series left in the year.

NC State will head to Greenville on Tuesday for the first of two games with East Carolina in April (the Pirates will come to Raleigh on April 22) before returning to Raleigh for a home series with a Top 20 Louisville squad.