Pack Holds Off Cards, Advances To ACC Championship Semifinal

Thursday, May 11

Chapel Hill, N.C. (Anderson Softball Stadium)

5 PM

NC State

18-37

Louisville (Quarterfinal)

31-19

NC State

Louisville

Pack Holds Off Cards, Advances To ACC Championship Semifinal

5/11/2017 6:48:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Highlighted by three runs on four hits in the fifth inning, the NC State softball team held off Louisville 5-2 on Thursday evening in the ACC Championship quarterfinal in Chapel Hill, N.C., at Anderson Stadium.

The Wolfpack improves to 18-37 (10-14 ACC), advancing to the semifinal, while the Cardinals fall to 31-19 (14-9 ACC) on the season.

Rychcik's Review
"I was really pleased with how we swung the bats. I think we set the tone that we would come out fighting. We got one on the board and got another one and gave one back. It's who we are," said head coach Shawn Rychcik. "We kept grinding them out. It was phenomenal. We had 12-pitch bats, 10-pitch at bats and they were resulting in hits. We did a great job of running the pitch count up on both pitchers.

"I think it kept the momentum going for us. When we gave up a run we'd put runners right back on. It was good. We came off a tough series with them from last week where they got three on us, although we felt like we were still the better team even though they beat us three times. I'm just really proud. They showed unbelievable resiliency and stuck together and competed, and we were rewarded today."

Game Rewind
-NC State struck first, plating a run in the second inning. Alyssa Compton opened the frame with a double to right center, and back-to-back singles by Haylee Kobziak and Jessica Moore allowed her to cross home plate.
-In the third inning the Pack plated its second run of the game, as Tyler Ross scored on Compton's single to left field. She led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch, and advanced on a sacrifice bunt and stolen base to start the threat.
-The Cards answered in the bottom frame, as Jordan McNary reached on a fielder's choice then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Wolfpack error.
-The Pack tacked on three more runs on four hits in the fifth, extending its lead to 5-1 on Cheyenne Balzer's RBI double to left center and back-to-back RBI singles by Jessica Moore and Molly Martin. Balzer brought pinch runner Geena Autry home from first base while Compton and Kobziak scored the other two from third base.
-UL led off the bottom half with a solo shot to center field, but the next three batters were retired on groundouts.
-The Pack managed to tally three hits in the final innings for a total of 14 in the contest, and keep the Cards scoreless to take the win.

Inside The Box Score
-Peyton Silverman went the distance in the circle to collect her 13th win and 24th complete game of the season. She struck out three batters and gave up six hits.
-Moore led the squad at the plate with three hits in her four at-bats, while Compton, Kobziak and Martin were all 2-for-4.

On Deck
NC State will face the winner of the UNC-CH vs. Syracuse game at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The game will be broadcast live of the ACC Network Extra and Regional Sports Networks.