Saturday, February 22
Raleigh, N.C.
3:00 PM
NC State
9-4
2
vs
1
Indiana
5-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Indiana
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
0
NC State
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
2
5
3
Softball Wins Fifth Straight
2/22/2020 10:00:00 PM | Softball
RALEIGH – The NC State softball team officially recorded its 10th win of the season after picking up a pair of victories Saturday evening at Dail Softball Stadium, extending its winning streak to five-straight. The Wolfpack outlasted Indiana in an eight-inning thriller, 2-1, before shutting out Saint Joseph's, 7-0.
NC State (10-4) is just the third ACC softball team to reach double-digit win totals through the first three weekends of the 2020 season, as Duke and Virginia Tech also did so this weekend.
"The first game of the day was a dog fight," said head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. "It was a gritty win and I felt like as the innings went on we got more and more momentum and confidence. We got the big hits late and it was good to come out with the win.
While the offense shined Saturday, the NC State pitching staff did not allow an earned run between the two games. Sydney Nester pitched the complete eight innings against Indiana, allowing one unearned run on three hits. Nester (5-2) struck out 10 while allowing just one walk. Devin Wallace and Sam Gress combined for the shutout against Saint Joseph's, holding the Hawks to five hits on the day. Wallace (5-2) struck out five while not allowing a walk in her five innings pitched.
The Pack offense tallied 16 hits by six different batters between the two games. Tatyana Forbes once again led NC State, going 4-for-7 at the plate with two runs scored. Both Randi Farricker and Brigette Nordberg were perfect against Saint Joseph's, going 3-for-3 and 2-for-2, respectively. Both of Nordberg's hits were home runs as she becomes the second NC State player to record a mutli-home run game this weekend.
INDIANA RECAP
The Hoosiers struck first with their leadoff batter, Lambert, reaching on an error by Nester. After a strikeout, Lambert stole second and eventually advanced to third on a groundout. Following a walk, Lambert scored on a first and third rundown situation for a 1-0 Indiana lead.
Nester did not allow another run, pitching a shutout seven innings which included 3.1 hitless frames. Despite two errors, NC State forced Indiana to strand a pair of runners in the top of the sixth setting up an opportunity to tie the ball game.
Sam Russ led off the sixth inning with her first triple of the season before being called out at home on a fielders' choice from Forbes. A Logan Morris single followed by wild pitch put runners at second and third while a fielders' choice allowed Forbes to cross home plate, tying the game 1-1.
With the international tie breaker rule in effect, Indiana's Baez was placed on second to open the eighth inning. A sacrifice bunt moved her to third before Nester laid down the next two batters with strikeouts. With April Visser on second, the Hoosiers intentionally walked Russ to get to Forbes who then singled, loading the bases. A sacrifice fly from Morris brought the winning run home.
SAINT JOSEPH'S RECAP
Wallace gave up a leadoff double to Saint Joseph's, before retiring 12-straight batters. During that period, the NC State offense wracked up seven runs, starting in the second, for a 7-0 lead they would not relinquish. Four of NC State's runs came in the bottom of the fourth off Nordberg's second homerun and a two-RBI single from Morris.
Freshman Sam Gress entered in relief for Wallace in the top of the sixth. A hit by pitch, single and walk loaded the bases for Saint Joseph's, but Gress worked around the batters to end the scoring threat.
OF NOTE
UP NEXT
NC State looks to conclude its perfect weekend with a sixth-straight win Sunday against Bucknell at 12:30 p.m.
NC State (10-4) is just the third ACC softball team to reach double-digit win totals through the first three weekends of the 2020 season, as Duke and Virginia Tech also did so this weekend.
"The first game of the day was a dog fight," said head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. "It was a gritty win and I felt like as the innings went on we got more and more momentum and confidence. We got the big hits late and it was good to come out with the win.
While the offense shined Saturday, the NC State pitching staff did not allow an earned run between the two games. Sydney Nester pitched the complete eight innings against Indiana, allowing one unearned run on three hits. Nester (5-2) struck out 10 while allowing just one walk. Devin Wallace and Sam Gress combined for the shutout against Saint Joseph's, holding the Hawks to five hits on the day. Wallace (5-2) struck out five while not allowing a walk in her five innings pitched.
The Pack offense tallied 16 hits by six different batters between the two games. Tatyana Forbes once again led NC State, going 4-for-7 at the plate with two runs scored. Both Randi Farricker and Brigette Nordberg were perfect against Saint Joseph's, going 3-for-3 and 2-for-2, respectively. Both of Nordberg's hits were home runs as she becomes the second NC State player to record a mutli-home run game this weekend.
INDIANA RECAP
The Hoosiers struck first with their leadoff batter, Lambert, reaching on an error by Nester. After a strikeout, Lambert stole second and eventually advanced to third on a groundout. Following a walk, Lambert scored on a first and third rundown situation for a 1-0 Indiana lead.
Nester did not allow another run, pitching a shutout seven innings which included 3.1 hitless frames. Despite two errors, NC State forced Indiana to strand a pair of runners in the top of the sixth setting up an opportunity to tie the ball game.
Sam Russ led off the sixth inning with her first triple of the season before being called out at home on a fielders' choice from Forbes. A Logan Morris single followed by wild pitch put runners at second and third while a fielders' choice allowed Forbes to cross home plate, tying the game 1-1.
With the international tie breaker rule in effect, Indiana's Baez was placed on second to open the eighth inning. A sacrifice bunt moved her to third before Nester laid down the next two batters with strikeouts. With April Visser on second, the Hoosiers intentionally walked Russ to get to Forbes who then singled, loading the bases. A sacrifice fly from Morris brought the winning run home.
SAINT JOSEPH'S RECAP
Wallace gave up a leadoff double to Saint Joseph's, before retiring 12-straight batters. During that period, the NC State offense wracked up seven runs, starting in the second, for a 7-0 lead they would not relinquish. Four of NC State's runs came in the bottom of the fourth off Nordberg's second homerun and a two-RBI single from Morris.
Freshman Sam Gress entered in relief for Wallace in the top of the sixth. A hit by pitch, single and walk loaded the bases for Saint Joseph's, but Gress worked around the batters to end the scoring threat.
OF NOTE
- Saturday marked the first matchup between NC State and Indiana since1 2009. The Pack is now 2-0 all-time against Indiana, with both wins be one-run games.
- The eight-inning victory against Indiana is the Pack's first extra-inning win of the season.
- Morris now has two walk-off wins to her credit this season, after also doing so last weekend against Ohio State.
UP NEXT
NC State looks to conclude its perfect weekend with a sixth-straight win Sunday against Bucknell at 12:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nester, Sydney (5-2)
L: Emily Goodin (5-5)
Batting:
SH: Katie Lacefield 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor Lambert 1
SB: Taylor Lambert 2
CS: Desiree Dufek 1
Batting:
2B: Farricker, Randi 1
3B: Russ, Sam 1
RBI: Morris, Logan 1 ; Rizzi, Angie 1
SF: Morris, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Forbes, Tatyana 1 ; Visser, April 1
SB: Russ, Sam 1 ; Farricker, Randi 1
HBP: Russ, Sam 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
rf/lf
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
ULT
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
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