NC State Newsstand: Wolfpack softball on historic start under Lindsay Leftwich
NC State softball has won 11 games in a row, which marks the team’s longest winning streak since the 2014 campaign. The Wolfpack have swept the past two home tournament weekends, including a 4-0 mark in the most recent event, the Wolfpack Classic.
The Wolfpack downed UAlbany 9-0 (5 innings) and 13-1 (5 innings) on Friday and Saturday before it beat Cleveland State 10-1 (5 innings) and Appalachian State 6-2 to close out the weekend. NC State went 6-0 last weekend, and is now a perfect 10-0 in Raleigh.
While the red and white has been on a tear, it has opened the season with a 12-3 mark under first-year coach Lindsay Leftwich, the best mark to begin a tenure with the Wolfpack in program history. Leftwich has led the Pack to nearly its win total from a year ago (18-35) through her first three weekends on the job.
NC State’s wins have come through a balance of offense and defense.
The Wolfpack has 32 stolen bases, which is the most since the 2022 season, while a trio of players — sophomore catcher Amanda Hasler (6), sophomore utility Makayla Marbury (5) and junior infielder Taylor Ensley (5) — have combined for 16 home runs. The rest of the Wolfpack roster has hit three home runs combined.
Those three sluggers have combined to record 40 of the Wolfpack’s 82 total RBI through the first 15 games of the season.
While NC State has hot bats, it also has a solid pitching staff to this point. NC State only conceded four runs in its four weekend contests thanks to a combination of arms.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Kayla Fekel and redshirt senior righty Aisha Weixlmann each blanked UAlbany in five-inning complete game efforts. Weixlmann opened the weekend with a one-hitter that she logged eight strikeouts and three walks, while Fekel allowed just two hits with one run and four strikeouts in the following game against the Greyhounds.
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The other two contests were team efforts in the circle. Freshman right-hander Carly Maxton and sophomore righty Madison Inscoe combined to allow just four hits and one unearned run to Cleveland State with a pair of walks and a pair of runs. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Rylee Wyman, Inscoe and Weixlmann took care of App State with just five hits, two runs (one earned), two walks and a combined seven strikeouts.
Tweets of the day
NC State baseball won the weekend series at Hawaii
Wolfpack wrestler Trent Hidlay hit a career milestone in the Pack’s win over Virginia Tech on Friday night.
NC State men’s swim and dive continued its dominance with another ACC title.
Quote of the day
NC State women’s basketball lost its second in a row with a 69-58 defeat at Duke on Sunday night. Coach Wes Moore knows his team has work to do with two regular season games left.
“We’re still in a position to control our own destiny,” Moore said. “But I’m also concerned about how we’re playing, so it’s a combination. You hate to talk too much about the things around it. The important thing is, when you step between those lines, you’re ready to play, you’re mentally prepared, you’re ready to compete and we talked about that moving forward”
Today’s top headlines
NC State baseball takes weekend series at Hawaii
Wes Moore looks for NC State to ‘buy in’ during regular season home stretch
