NC State baseball blasts its way past Queens 

If there was any concern about a hangover from NC State’s cross-country trek from Hawaii back to Raleigh overnight Sunday into Monday, there is not now. 

NC State welcomed Queens to the City of Oaks, and well, it blitzed the Royals before they were truly ever ready in a 17-2 rout Wednesday afternoon at Doak Field for the Pack’s first midweek contest of the 2024 campaign.

“That trip to Hawaii takes a little bit out of you,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said. “We didn’t practice for two days and we’ve got four games this weekend. … They’ve got a lot on them, so I was proud of everything they did today.”

The Wolfpack departed Honolulu just after 7 p.m. local time Sunday night and did not return back to Raleigh until nearly lunchtime Monday after catching a connecting flight in Dallas. It took a toll on the team, but NC State was able to shake the travel effects against the Royals. 

But not only did the Wolfpack do well in being able to be locked in for nine innings, it cleaned up what plagued the red and white at Hawaii: walks and errors. The Pack only issued three walks for the entire contest against Queens after it had 29 in the three-game weekend series against the Rainbow Warriors. 

NC State played a clean game without an error, too, which came to the delight of Avent. 

“The big thing is not only did we not make an error, pitchers pounded the zone for the most part,” Avent said. “To play a clean game with everybody playing, that’s the most important thing to me.”

The Wolfpack was able to secure its first midweek win of the season behind a dominant effort at the plate. NC State hung eight runs in the first inning, which came on just three hits as the Pack took advantage of seven walks in the 45-minute frame. 

After that, the Pack pushed its lead with a six-run fifth inning, which bookended a trio of runs between the second and fourth frames. 

NC State was powered by freshman catcher Drew Lanphere at the plate. He clubbed his first two home runs of his collegiate career against the Royals. The first came off the top of the right field wall in the fourth inning before he hit a two-run shot over the right field fence in the fifth. 

Not a bad day for his first time catching a complete game with the Pack, too. 

Lanphere caught the six different pitchers NC State threw, including freshman starter Cooper Consiglio, with starting catcher Jacob Cozart at the designated hitter spot and freshman Alex Sosa out with an injury for the time being.

Consiglio and Lanphere made their first extended appearances on the Wolfpack’s home field, and they leaned on one another to get through it.

“First time catching, obviously a little nervous, especially with a first-time pitcher, first start,” Lanphere said. “But after we scored [8] runs in the first inning, I calmed down a little bit. It was a lot easier after that.”

Consiglio had a rocky first inning after he hit the first batter he faced, who came around to score on a ground out, but he calmed down on the bump afterwards.The lefty then retired the side in the second and third innings before he allowed another run in the fourth. 

The earned the win on a predetermined pitch count after four innings of work with one hit allowed, two earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. 

“I thought we played really well as a team,” Consiglio said. “It’s a lot more relaxing as a pitcher when your offense has eight runs in the first. I just tried to do my job as best as I could.”

NC State’s bullpen carried the load from there and allowed just two more hits the rest of the way. The Wolfpack’s roster all joined in on the offense, too. NC State had four players with multiple RBI, including Lanphere’s four. Alec Makarewicz, the red-hot hitting third baseman, went 3-for-4 at the plate with a homer, a double and four RBI to headline the rest of the Pack’s bats. 

The red and white will return to the field Friday afternoon to kick off a four-game series with Towson at Doak Field.