#13 Wolfpack Wins 17-12 Slugfest in Series Opener at Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaii – The NC State baseball team scored a season-high 17 runs in a 17-12 slugfest victory over Hawaii on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium.

Third baseman Alec Makarewicz led NC State's best offensive output of the season after going 2-for-6 with two homers, six RBI and three runs scored. Makarewicz homered from both sides of the plate in the impressive performance, smacking an opposite-field grand slam from the right side of the plate in the third frame before belting a two-run home run from the left side in the fourth inning.

Eli Serrano III and Garrett Pennington also each logged RBI during the Pack's streak of eight unanswered runs to flip a 3-0 deficit into an 8-3 lead. The Wolfpack (3-1) never trailed following Makarewicz's grand slam in the third inning.

Makarewicz's pair of homers helped NC State build a five-run lead, stretching its lead to 8-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Hawaii (2-3) notched a four spot on the scoreboard itself in the bottom of the fifth to trim the Wolfpack's advantage to 8-7 after five innings.

NC State blew the contest open with eight runs in the top of the seventh, doubling its run total from the prior six innings in just one frame before the seventh-inning stretch. The Wolfpack logged six hits to plate its eight runs, scoring six of those runs with nobody out in the inning. Josh Hogue opened the scoring barrage with an RBI triple to right center before Drew Lanphere made it 10-7 with an RBI single.

Noah Soles and Pennington drove in a pair of runs on back-to-back pitches to stretch the lead to 14-7. Soles singled through the right side to plate two before Pennington drilled a two-RBI double down the left-field line. Hogue recorded his second RBI of the inning with a two-out single before Heavner concluded the eight-run inning with an RBI single to make it 16-7.

NC State plated one more in the top of the eighth, while Hawaii scored one in the bottom of the seventh before scoring four more in the eighth. Jacob Dudan recorded the final three outs for the Wolfpack to secure the win. Dudan's final out came via a diving catch from Soles, who stretched out just short of the warning track to end the game.

Hawaii capitalized on a pair of walks and a hit batter to open the bottom of the first, plating three runs to build an early 3-0 lead. The Rainbow Warriors drove in two of their three runs via sacrifice flies. Matthew Miura knocked in Hawaii's second run with an RBI double to left field.

Hogue turned in NC State's first four-hit performance of the season, going 4-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

For the second consecutive Friday, NC State had five or more batters with multi-hit performances as Soles, Pennington, Serrano III, Jacob Cozart, Makarewicz and Hogue each recorded two hits or more. The Wolfpack's lineup also had five batters with multiple RBI and multiple runs scored in the series opener in Hawaii.

The Pack's 20 hits on Friday night also marks the first time since a 15-8 win over Wake Forest on May 2, 2021, that NC State recorded exactly 20 hits in a game.

NC State reliever Logan Whitaker earned the win to move to 1-1 on the season. Hawaii starting pitcher Harrison Bodendorf (0-1) suffered the loss.

UP NEXT
NC State looks to notch back-to-back series victories to open the season in Saturday's matchup against the Rainbow Warriors. First pitch at Les Murakami Stadium is set for 11:35 p.m. ET. No live video stream, NC State audio stream or NC State radio broadcast will be available for Saturday's contest. Fans can access live stats for Saturday's game by clicking here or can listen live to Hawaii's radio broadcast by clicking here.

#13 Wolfpack Wins 17-12 Slugfest in Series Opener at Hawaii

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Team Stats

Josh Hogue

Noah Soles

Garrett Pennington

Eli Serrano III

Players Mentioned

Jacob Cozart

Jacob Dudan

Josh Hogue

Drew Lanphere

Alec Makarewicz

Garrett Pennington

Eli Serrano III

Noah Soles

Logan Whitaker