NC State baseball weekend recap: Pack hits a losing skid
NC State baseball started with a bang, winning its first eight games of the year.
And then it ran into its first trouble of the season. Following a mid-week loss at Campbell, NC State was surprisingly swept by Northeastern over the weekend. The bats fell silent for much of the series, losing 6-1 in the opener Friday and 6-0 in the capper. In between, NC State lost 8-5.
“We have to get better,” NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent said. “I know we have a lot of new guys out there, you look out there and there are seven out of eight position players who are new guys. They have to get better. They are good players.
“The ACC is around the corner, and obviously when you lose four in a row it takes some confidence out of you. The new guys are going to have to get better quickly, because Northeastern handled us this weekend.”
At The Plate For NC State Baseball
Against Northeastern’s heralded starting pitching staff, NC State struggled. The Pack had only four hits in the opener, three by redshirt junior third baseman Josh Hood, who doubled and homered. Freshman designated hitter Will Marcy homered in game two while sophomore second baseman LuJames Groover III added three hits.
In game three, the Pack could only manage six singles, two of them by freshman shortstop Payton Green. Marcy, getting a start in right, Groover and Hood also had hits.
On The Mound
Game two was tied 2-2 going into the seventh when Avent turned to his closer, third-year sophomore lefty Chris Villaman, but Villaman struggled. He allowed five hits and a walk while giving up six runs, five of which were earned. He also hit a batter.
Villaman took the loss after an effective start from third-year sophomore righty Matt Willadsen, who went 6.0 innings and allowed two earned runs while surrendering seven hits and two walks and striking out six. Willadsen was the only starter to go past five innings during the weekend.
Sophomore Justin Lawson was able to limit further damage after relieving Villaman in the eighth, throwing the last two innings and allowing only one hit.
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One of the bright spots of the weekend was a strong performance in relief by freshman Carson Kelly in game three. He tossed the final 3.0 innings and gave up just one hit and a walk while striking out four in a scoreless outing.
One Area Of Concern
The fundamentals of fielding and pitching got away from NC State over the weekend. In each game, the Pack committed at least two errors and had nine total on the weekend.
From the mound, NC State hit five batters and threw four wild pitches in the first two games before a clean performance in the finale.
Avent though is more concerned about the fielding.
“We have got to sharpen our defense,” Avent said. “We have got to play better defense. I think pitching is as good as it can be right now. We have got guys that are pitching well, and we’ve got to make plays for them.”
Midweek Action Ahead For NC State Baseball
The final tune-up before starting ACC play is Tuesday at UNC Greensboro. They were picked to finish sixth in the eight-team Southern Conference during the preseason.
The Spartans are 6-5 on the season and swept Towson over the weekend. Earlier this year, UNCG opened by going 1-2 at South Carolina in three games that were all decided by two runs or less. In a midweek game at Wake Forest, the Spartans took a lopsided 20-run loss.
UNCG is 0-2 in midweek games, having also lost at North Carolina A&T last week, 7-5.
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