Saturday, February 17
Raleigh, N.C.
2 p.m.
NC State
6
vs
9
VCU
Photo by: Mollie Mitchell
#13 NC State Falls 9-6 to VCU on Saturday
2/17/2024 5:49:00 PM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 13 NC State baseball team dropped its first game of the season in a 9-6 loss to VCU on Saturday afternoon at Doak Field.
NC State (1-1) held leads of three and four runs, respectively, before a five-run fifth inning from VCU (1-1) lifted the visitors to a series-tying victory.
The Wolfpack struck early with three runs in the bottom of the first. Noah Soles homered on the first pitch he saw for a solo shot to right field, giving NC State a 1-0 lead. Alec Makarewicz then smacked his first homer in a Wolfpack uniform to expand the Pack's advantage to 3-0.
Cooper Benzin's solo homer trimmed the Pack's lead to 3-1 in the top of the third before NC State answered with two runs in the bottom half. Soles crushed his second solo homer of the afternoon to re-establish a three-run cushion at 4-1 before Alex Sosa delivered an RBI single to center field to make it 5-1 Wolfpack.
The Rams scored one in the fourth before their five-run fifth inning. VCU capitalized on two Wolfpack errors in the inning to push five runs across, flipping a 5-2 deficit into a 7-5 advantage.
Matt Heavner homered for the second straight day to cut VCU's lead to 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth. The Rams, however, extended their lead to the game's final margin when Brandon Eike launched a two-run homer to center field in the seventh.
VCU's Cade Dressler earned the win after tossing four innings in relief of starter Christian Gordon, allowing just one hit and one run before Owen Tappy recorded the game's final six outs for the save. Logan Whitaker suffered the loss for NC State in Saturday's setback.
Soles' pair of solo home runs marked the first multi-homer game of his career. He and Heavner each tallied multi-hit performances, while Makarewicz tied Soles for the team lead with two RBI apiece.
Freshman pitcher Jacob Dudan made his NC State debut with a scoreless ninth inning. Dudan notched a strikeout and allowed just one hit in his first appearance for the Pack.
UP NEXT
NC State looks to secure its first series victory of the season in Sunday's series finale against VCU. First pitch at The Doak is set for 1 p.m. and will stream live on ACC Network Extra. Head coach Elliott Avent can also notch his 1,000th win at NC State with a victory on Sunday.
NC State (1-1) held leads of three and four runs, respectively, before a five-run fifth inning from VCU (1-1) lifted the visitors to a series-tying victory.
The Wolfpack struck early with three runs in the bottom of the first. Noah Soles homered on the first pitch he saw for a solo shot to right field, giving NC State a 1-0 lead. Alec Makarewicz then smacked his first homer in a Wolfpack uniform to expand the Pack's advantage to 3-0.
Cooper Benzin's solo homer trimmed the Pack's lead to 3-1 in the top of the third before NC State answered with two runs in the bottom half. Soles crushed his second solo homer of the afternoon to re-establish a three-run cushion at 4-1 before Alex Sosa delivered an RBI single to center field to make it 5-1 Wolfpack.
The Rams scored one in the fourth before their five-run fifth inning. VCU capitalized on two Wolfpack errors in the inning to push five runs across, flipping a 5-2 deficit into a 7-5 advantage.
Matt Heavner homered for the second straight day to cut VCU's lead to 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth. The Rams, however, extended their lead to the game's final margin when Brandon Eike launched a two-run homer to center field in the seventh.
VCU's Cade Dressler earned the win after tossing four innings in relief of starter Christian Gordon, allowing just one hit and one run before Owen Tappy recorded the game's final six outs for the save. Logan Whitaker suffered the loss for NC State in Saturday's setback.
Soles' pair of solo home runs marked the first multi-homer game of his career. He and Heavner each tallied multi-hit performances, while Makarewicz tied Soles for the team lead with two RBI apiece.
Freshman pitcher Jacob Dudan made his NC State debut with a scoreless ninth inning. Dudan notched a strikeout and allowed just one hit in his first appearance for the Pack.
UP NEXT
NC State looks to secure its first series victory of the season in Sunday's series finale against VCU. First pitch at The Doak is set for 1 p.m. and will stream live on ACC Network Extra. Head coach Elliott Avent can also notch his 1,000th win at NC State with a victory on Sunday.
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