NC State
12-2, 3-0
Boston College
7-6, 0-3
#14 NC State Sweeps Boston College to Open ACC Play
3/10/2024 4:27:00 PM | Baseball
Wins Series Finale 18-16
NC State (12-2, 3-0 ACC) and Boston College (7-6, 0-3 ACC) combined for 34 runs, 34 hits and 11 home runs in Sunday's series finale. The Pack built an early 3-0 lead when Alec Makarewicz crushed a three-run homer to left field in the top of the first. Despite Boston College recording three innings with four runs scored or more, the Wolfpack never relinquished its lead following Makarewicz's three-run blast in the opening inning.
NC State extended its lead to 7-1 with four runs in the bottom of the third. Eli Serrano III belted a two-run homer to right field to cap off the four-run frame after Makarewicz and Josh Hogue each notched RBI efforts apiece.
Boston College answered with five straight runs to trim its deficit to 7-6 in the middle of the fifth. The Wolfpack again responded with four runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth when Serrano III drove a three-run homer to opposite field, making it 10-6 Wolfpack. Serrano III's second homer of the afternoon marked his first multi-homer game of his career. Luke Nixon then concluded the four-run inning with an RBI single up the middle for a 11-6 Wolfpack advantage.
NC State stretched its advantage to a game-high nine runs when Hogue smacked the Pack's fourth and final home run of the afternoon to left field. Hogue's two-run shot made it 16-7 Wolfpack heading to the eighth inning.
Boston College responded with five runs in the top of the eighth to cut its deficit to 16-12. Garrett Pennington's two-RBI double in the bottom of the eighth proved to be the difference as the Pack entered the top of the ninth with an 18-12 lead.
The Eagles' Patrick Roche brought the score within two when he hit a grand slam with nobody out in the top of the ninth. Heath Andrews, Cooper Consiglio and Carson Kelly each recorded an out apiece as the Wolfpack nailed down its ninth straight victory. Kelly registered the final out of the game to earn a save in his first appearance of the season.
Six NC State batters recorded three-hit performances in the high-scoring series finale – Noah Soles, Pennington, Makarewicz, Hogue, Serrano III and Brandon Butterworth. In addition to its four home runs, the Wolfpack hit six doubles for 10 extra-base hits. Makarewicz and Serrano III each logged five RBI apiece, which is the first time a pair of Wolfpack batters logged five RBI or more each since April 18, 2023, against Davidson.
The Wolfpack finished with exactly 21 hits for the first time since March 4, 2020, against Coastal Carolina. NC State has now outscored opponents 94-36 during its current 8-0 homestand.
Wolfpack reliever Shane Van Dam (2-0) earned the win, while Boston College starter Matthew Nunan (0-1) suffered the loss.
UP NEXT
NC State concludes its homestand Tuesday night against UNCG. First pitch for Tuesday's midweek matchup against the Spartans is set for 6 p.m. and will stream live on ACC Network Extra.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Van Dam, Shane (2-0)
L: Matthew Nunan (0-1)
S: Kelly, Carson (1)
Batting:
2B: Nick Wang 1
3B: Patrick Roche 1
HR: Patrick Roche 1 ; Nick Wang 2 ; Cameron Leary 1 ; Kyle Wolff 2 ; Cam Caraher 1
RBI: Patrick Roche 4 ; Nick Wang 6 ; Cameron Leary 2 ; Kyle Wolff 3 ; Cam Caraher 1
SF: Nick Wang 1 ; Cameron Leary 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Patrick Roche 4 ; Nick Wang 3 ; Cameron Leary 2 ; Kyle Wolff 2 ; Cam Caraher 2 ; Owen DeShazo 1 ; Austin Hartsell 2
HBP: Patrick Roche 1 ; Kyle Wolff 1
Batting:
2B: Pennington, Garrett 2 ; Makarewicz, Alec 2 ; Butterworth, Brandon 2
HR: Makarewicz, Alec 1 ; Hogue, Josh 1 ; Serrano III, Eli 2
RBI: Pennington, Garrett 2 ; Makarewicz, Alec 5 ; Cozart, Jacob 1 ; Hogue, Josh 3 ; Serrano III, Eli 5 ; Nixon, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Soles, Noah 3 ; Pennington, Garrett 2 ; Makarewicz, Alec 3 ; Cozart, Jacob 2 ; Hogue, Josh 4 ; Serrano III, Eli 2 ; Nixon, Chase 1 ; Butterworth, Brandon 1
HBP: Hogue, Josh 1
PO: Serrano III, Eli 1
