No. 17 NC State walks off No. 8 Wake Forest to clinch series win

Patience is key — especially when it comes to facing Wake Forest starter Chase Burns and his lethal fastball. He hit 100 mph with ease on the mound, and his repertoire made NC State’s batters look silly at times. 

Burns, a consensus top-10 MLB draft pick this summer, was lights out, but the Wolfpack had to wait him out. He went seven innings with 13 strikeouts before Wake Forest went to the bullpen. 

Once Burns was removed from the game, the Pack did not record a hit the rest of the way, but that didn’t matter. Instead, its patience paid off. No. 17 NC State used four ninth-inning walks to push past No. 8 Wake Forest 2-1 Friday night at Doak Field — clinching the Pack’s fifth ranked ACC series win of the season. 

The Pack struggled to find ways to get a ball through the infield at times or when it did, the ball was sent right at an outfielder. But in the ninth inning, NC State’s eye at the plate paid off. 

Junior shortstop Brandon Butterworth opened the frame with a walk before freshman second baseman Luke Nixon struck out. After that, the Pack hitters settled in — and didn’t have to lift the bat off their shoulders. Freshman designated hitter Alex Sosa walked and junior outfielder Chase Nixon did the same on four pitches. 

That sequence opened the door for graduate right fielder Noah Soles to end it. He drew a full-count walk to seal the game, his first-career walk-off. 

“[I was] just trying to do my job and ultimately compete,” Soles said with a smile afterwards. “The goal is to win and not do too much. Fortunately, we came out on the good side.”

Patience paid off for the bottom of the Wolfpack’s order. Four of the team’s last five hitters in the order were involved in the game-winning bases-loaded walk. While they all have sub-.260 batting averages, the back end of the lineup rose to the occasion. 

And it did so while not doing too much at the plate. 

“You don’t win games like this with just the top five hitters in the lineup very often,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said. “It takes 1-9. You’ve got to understand the 1-9, you do different things. You extend counts, you play the small game. You understand what you have to do.”

They understood the assignment, but the hitters were not alone in being patient. Its pitchers were too, and it might have punched the Wolfpack’s ticket to an NCAA Tournament Regional in a few weeks. NC State now owns series wins over No. 2 Clemson, No. 7 Florida State, No. 9 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina and the Demon Deacons. 

NC State lefty Dominic Fritton started and managed to match Burns’ on the rubber. He did not need to force the strikeout totals, instead Fritton was able to put up zeros. That’s all the Wolfpack needed him to do, departing after 4.2 innings pitched with one run on three hits, three walks and five strikeouts. 

Fritton’s patience was tested early with a 27-pitch first inning and a 25-pitch second frame. He was able to rebound from that pair of innings to toss 95 pitches, handing the game to the Pack’s bullpen, which handled the rest of the way. 

“Every pitch definitely counted tonight going up against Burns,” said freshman reliever Jacob Dudan, who threw the last 2.2 innings without a hit, three walks and two strikeouts. “But we had the better pitcher tonight, in my opinion. Dom Fritton, he’s been really good all year for us, and he went out there and showed what he can do tonight.”

Fritton’s start was impressive, especially by going toe-to-toe with Burns. He allowed the Pack to have a chance by limiting Wake Forest’s damage to just one run. 

Avent was pleased with his starter’s effort on the mound. 

“We had to be very, very good tonight,” Avent said. “That’s certainly one of the best pitchers ever in college baseball. He was on tonight. He’s very gifted, he’s good and he’s competitive. Fritton knew he had no margin for error. He did what he needed to do tonight.”

Patience is a virtue, as they say. NC State seemed to believe that against Wake Forest and it paid dividends. Now, the Wolfpack has a chance to go for the sweep Saturday afternoon in Raleigh.