Friday, March 4
3:00 PM
NC State
8-2
7
vs
1
Niagara
2-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Niagara
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
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1
8
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NC State
2
0
1
0
4
0
0
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X
7
11
0
Photo by: John Crouch
Shepard Sets Record, No. 8 Pack Wins Fifth-Straight
3/4/2016 7:07:00 PM | Baseball
NC State’s Chance Shepard homers in his sixth consecutive game
RALEIGH, N.C. - No. 8 NC State baseball earned its fifth-consecutive win, 7-1 over Niagara, on Friday at Doak Field at Dail Park, behind Chance Shepard's school-record sixth homer in as many games.
Shepard homered in the bottom first to pass Mark Wells, who homered in five-straight games during the 1994 season, for the NC State record. The national record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, held by two players. Shepard sits one homer shy of the national lead of seven, tied for second on the NCAA leaderboard for 2016.
The Wolfpack (8-2) pitching staff delivered a combined 14 strikeouts, tying a season-high set in game three against Wright State. Ryan Williamson (1-0) won as the starter, tying a career high with eight punchouts over 5 2/3 innings, scattering six hits and four walks to allow one unearned run.Â
Austin Staley relieved Williamson and pitched perfectly for 1 1/3, fanning two. Christian Demby made his college debut with four strikeouts in nine batters faced over two innings of two-hit, shutout ball.
Josh McLain hit a grand slam, his second career homer, to break the game open 7-1 in the fifth. NC State trailed Niagara (2-9) heading into the bottom first 1-0, marking the ninth time in 10 games the Wolfpack has played from behind.Â
Andrew Knizner went 3-for-4 with a run and a walk. Shepard went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run, adding a double to his homer. Evan Mendoza contributed a 2-for-5 performance with an RBI and a stolen base, having a string of seven-consecutive plate appearances with a hit interrupted in his third at-bat.Â
Joe Dunand, Xavier LeGrant, and Tommy DeJuneas each supplied a hit. LeGrant and Dunand scored once. Brock Deatherage added a run on a walk and a sac bunt.Â
NC State returns to action on Saturday at 4:30 PM against Alabama at Cary's USA Baseball Complex. Radio coverage will be provided by 88.1 WKNC. Fans can follow along with live stats on GoPack.com, or Twitter updates via @NCStateBaseball.
Shepard homered in the bottom first to pass Mark Wells, who homered in five-straight games during the 1994 season, for the NC State record. The national record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, held by two players. Shepard sits one homer shy of the national lead of seven, tied for second on the NCAA leaderboard for 2016.
The Wolfpack (8-2) pitching staff delivered a combined 14 strikeouts, tying a season-high set in game three against Wright State. Ryan Williamson (1-0) won as the starter, tying a career high with eight punchouts over 5 2/3 innings, scattering six hits and four walks to allow one unearned run.Â
Austin Staley relieved Williamson and pitched perfectly for 1 1/3, fanning two. Christian Demby made his college debut with four strikeouts in nine batters faced over two innings of two-hit, shutout ball.
Josh McLain hit a grand slam, his second career homer, to break the game open 7-1 in the fifth. NC State trailed Niagara (2-9) heading into the bottom first 1-0, marking the ninth time in 10 games the Wolfpack has played from behind.Â
Andrew Knizner went 3-for-4 with a run and a walk. Shepard went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run, adding a double to his homer. Evan Mendoza contributed a 2-for-5 performance with an RBI and a stolen base, having a string of seven-consecutive plate appearances with a hit interrupted in his third at-bat.Â
Joe Dunand, Xavier LeGrant, and Tommy DeJuneas each supplied a hit. LeGrant and Dunand scored once. Brock Deatherage added a run on a walk and a sac bunt.Â
NC State returns to action on Saturday at 4:30 PM against Alabama at Cary's USA Baseball Complex. Radio coverage will be provided by 88.1 WKNC. Fans can follow along with live stats on GoPack.com, or Twitter updates via @NCStateBaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Williamson, Ryan (1-0)
L: Eckerson, Cody (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Fuhrman, Michael 1 ; Hackett, Taylor 1
RBI: Vangeison, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cullen, Greg 1
SB: Cullen, Greg 1
HBP: Fuhrman, Michael 1
Batting:
2B: Shepard, Chance 1
HR: McLain, Josh 1 ; Shepard, Chance 1
RBI: McLain, Josh 4 ; Shepard, Chance 2 ; Mendoza, Evan 1
SH: Deatherage, Brock 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McLain, Josh 1 ; Palmeiro, Preston 1 ; Knizner, Andrew 1 ; Shepard, Chance 1 ; Dunand, Joe 1 ; LeGrant, Xavier 1 ; Deatherage, Brock 1
SB: Mendoza, Evan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
4
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP/INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
CF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
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