NC State baseball weekend recap: Pack's struggles in field continues

The recent struggles for NC State baseball continued, losing a pair of games in its ACC-opening series to Notre Dame in Raleigh’s Doak Field.

The Pack has now lost 6 of 7 and fell to 9-6 overall and 0-2 in the ACC.

NC State had an early 4-0 lead on the third-ranked Fighting Irish in game one on Friday, but Notre Dame rallied to force extra innings. A four-run 12th provided ND the difference in an 8-4 game.

Saturday’s game was canceled because of weather.

Notre Dame jumped out to an early 4-0 lead through three innings Sunday. NC State battled back with a three-run fifth to cut the deficit down to a run, but Notre Dame pounded out two runs in the eighth and five more in the ninth in what would be an 11-4 Irish win.

NC State head coach Elliott Avent made it clear that he thought the Wolfpack could have won both games, but he is frustrated by mistakes in the field.

“When we were down 4-3, we should be up 3-1,” Avent said, referring to Sunday’s game. “Then at the end we missed a fly ball which makes it 6-3, and then we just seemed to put our heads down a little bit.

“A good team is going to tack it on, and that’s what they did. We’ve got to figure out how to grow up and toughen up a little bit, and we’ve also got to figure out how to catch the baseball. That’s as simple as it is for me.”

NC State Baseball At The Plate

Only three of the 16 hits for NC State went for extra bases over the weekend, highlighted by a homer from redshirt junior third baseman Josh Hood in the ninth inning of Sunday’s loss. Hood had four runs batted in (RBI) during the two-game series.

One player who has been emerging at the plate is Raleigh native and freshman outfielder Will Marcy. Marcy has started the last five games in a row for NC State, and in that stretch he has hit safely in every contest, going 9 for 18 at the plate with a homer, four RBI and four runs scored.

Sophomore LuJames Groover III started both games at first base this weekend and went 3 for 9 at the plate with two runs scored. The Charlotte transfer is now hitting .358 on the season in 15 games.

On The Mound

In both games, NC State received quality starts.

Third-year sophomore Sam Highfill tossed 6.1 innings Friday, allowing three earned runs on five hits and walking just one while striking out five.

Lefty Chris Villaman gave NC State three strong innings of relief to extend the game to the 12th, but he was hit hard going back out for a fourth frame and took the loss.

His classmate, Matt Willadsen, allowed only one earned run in 7.0 innings while giving up four hits and two walks and striking out six.

One Area Of Concern

The errors have been an uncharacteristic theme of the season. Avent’s teams are usually sound in the field, but two errors in each game led to seven unearned runs scored in the series, including five Sunday.

“We’ve got to figure out if we’re going to catch the baseball,” Avent said. “We’re not catching the baseball right now. We’ve got some things to figure out, but it can start with catching the baseball.”

Midweek Action Ahead For NC State Baseball

It is a busy week for the Wolfpack. NC State is at Elon Tuesday and then will host Coastal Carolina Wednesday.

Elon is 8-6 on the season, with half of its losses coming in three games played against ACC teams. In three games all played on Tuesday, Elon lost on the road to UNC (5-1) and Wake Forest (10-2) and at home to Notre Dame (11-3).

NC State will be Elon’s third straight day with a game. The Phoenix are playing a makeup contest with UNC Greensboro Monday afternoon. Elon was picked to finish fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association in the preseason.

Coastal Carolina is 10-6 with wins over a ranked Central Michigan squad and Wake Forest. Half of its losses came when Coastal was swept in a three-game series at nationally-ranked UNC, twice losing by identical 4-3 scores with one of those coming in 10 innings.

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