NC State
25-12, 11-8
#11 Louisville
26-12, 10-7
#Pack9 Evens Series With 15-10 Comeback Win Over Louisville
4/23/2022 7:22:00 PM | Baseball
The Wolfpack jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Cardinals slowly cut into their deficit and managed to take the lead in the sixth. The Pack completed the comeback with six unanswered runs in the final two innings to even the series.
It was a slugfest with a combined 25 runs scored between the squads, and 14 of the 25 hits tallied in the game were for extra bases. The Wolfpack's five home runs matched its season high for a single game, which was last achieved on February 18 against Evansville. Additionally, it marked the ninth time this year the Pack has hit multiple home runs in a contest.
NC State's scoring began in the second inning when it put up five runs on as many hits. Dominic Pilolli and Josh Hood started the frame with back-to-back outfield singles, and J.T. Jarrett delivered with a two-run double down the left field line, his eighth of the year, to give the Pack a 2-0 lead.
Payton Green and Jacob Cozart then stepped up and homered in consecutive at bats to extend the Pack's lead to 5-0 in the frame. It was Green's fifth homer of the year and Cozart's second.
The Cardinals answered in the bottom frame with a pair of runs thanks to a sac fly by Logan Beard to left field and a bases-loaded walk, making it 5-2.
Beard's solo shot to left field in the fourth inning made it a two-run game, but NC State responded in the fifth when Hood and Jarrett both homered to drive in a combined three runs and give the squad an 8-3 lead. It was Hood's seventh of the year and Jarrett's fourth.
Louisville got within two again in the bottom half of the fifth via Isaac Humphrey's RBI single to the shortstop and Christian Knapczyk's two-run double to right center on two outs, making it 8-6.
LuJames Groover III extended his hit streak to 24 and reached base streak to 27 games in the sixth when he drove in Cozart with a single through the left side after a walk, passed ball and fielder's choice put him at third, giving NC State a 9-6 advantage.
The Cards took their first lead of the game in the bottom half of the inning, plating four runs on three run-scoring doubles by Dalton Rushing, Jack Payton and Humphrey along with a three-base error to go ahead 10-9.
NC State regained its lead in the eighth with five runs on three hits. Hood's bases-loaded sac fly to center field brought the game-tying run across, and then timely hitting by Jarrett and Green with back-to-back doubles drove in a combined four runs to put the Pack on top, 14-10.
Groover hit his fourth home run of the year and fifth of the day for the Pack in the ninth, extending the lead to 15-10 with a solo shot to left field.
Groover and Jarrett each tallied three hits in the contest, and Jarrett drove in a career-high six runs batted in. Hood and Green also turned in multi-hit performances with two hits apiece, as eight different players recorded at least one hit in the win.
Justin Lawson improved to 4-1 on the mound this season as he tossed the final 3.2 innings of the contest, yielding just one hit and three walks while not allowing a run to score. He has now picked up four wins in his last five appearances and surrendered just three earned runs in that span.
NC State and Louisville will meet for the rubber match Sunday at Jim Patterson Stadium, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX and there will be an audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network App.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lawson, Justin (4-1)
L: Tate Kuehner (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Groover III, LuJames 1 ; Jarrett, J.T. 2 ; Green, Payton 1
HR: Groover III, LuJames 1 ; Hood, Josh 1 ; Jarrett, J.T. 1 ; Green, Payton 1 ; Cozart, Jacob 1
RBI: Groover III, LuJames 2 ; Hood, Josh 3 ; Jarrett, J.T. 6 ; Green, Payton 3 ; Cozart, Jacob 1
SF: Hood, Josh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Groover III, LuJames 2 ; White, Tommy 1 ; Pilolli, Dominic 2 ; Lavoie, Brady 1 ; Hood, Josh 2 ; Soles, Noah 1 ; Jarrett, J.T. 3 ; Green, Payton 1 ; Cozart, Jacob 2
SB: Brown, Devonte 1 ; Groover III, LuJames 1 ; Soles, Noah 1
Batting:
2B: Christian Knapczyk 1 ; Dalton Rushing 1 ; Jack Payton 2 ; Isaac Humphrey 1 ; Ben Bianco 1
HR: Logan Beard 1
RBI: Christian Knapczyk 3 ; Dalton Rushing 1 ; Jack Payton 1 ; Logan Beard 2 ; Isaac Humphrey 2
SH: Levi Usher 1
SF: Logan Beard 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cameron Masterman 1 ; Dalton Rushing 2 ; Jack Payton 3 ; Levi Usher 1 ; Logan Beard 1 ; Isaac Humphrey 1 ; Ben Bianco 1
SB: Jack Payton 1
HBP: Jack Payton 1
