#Pack9 Rallies to Defeat #13 Coastal Carolina in Raleigh

Tuesday, March 19

Raleigh, N.C.

6 p.m.

NC State

13-6

Coastal Carolina

17-4

Coastal Carolina

NC State

#Pack9 Rallies to Defeat #13 Coastal Carolina in Raleigh

3/19/2024 10:34:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State baseball team rallied from a pair of deficits to record a 9-8 comeback victory over No. 13 Coastal Carolina on Tuesday night at Doak Field at Dail Park.

NC State (13-6) rallied from a 4-0 deficit and a 5-4 deficit to knock off the 13^th-ranked Chanticleers (17-4) and snap a four-game losing streak. The Wolfpack also broke an 8-8 tie in the bottom of the eighth behind Garrett Pennington's go-ahead, two-out RBI double off the left-field wall to score Josh Hogue all the way from first base.

Hollis Fanning (2-0) earned the win for NC State after recording the final four outs, allowing just two hits with a strikeout. After allowing a leadoff single to Coastal Carolina catcher Derek Bender in the ninth, Fanning recorded a flyout and then used a 6-3 double play to end the game. Shortstop Brandon Butterworth gloved the ball on the second-base side of the bag, stepped on second base and fired a throw to first to complete the double play.

After Coastal Carolina jumped back in front in the top of the sixth, Luke Nixon battled back from a 1-2 count with one out in the bottom of the seventh to draw a one-out walk. Hogue then ripped a single to center field two pitches later to move Nixon to third base. A wild pitch from Chanticleers' reliever Cameron Flukey tied the score at 5-5 before Eli Serrano III gave NC State its first lead of the night with a two-out, two-RBI single to left field to make it 7-5 Wolfpack.

Alex Sosa then delivered another RBI single to expand the Pack's advantage to 8-5 one batter later. NC State drew three walks and registered three hits to plate four runs in the seventh frame. The Chanticleers, however, answered the Pack's four-run seventh with three runs in the top of the eighth, tying the score once again at 8-8.

Coastal Carolina struck first in Tuesday's tilt with a two-out grand slam in the top of the first. Graham Brown's drive to left-center gave the Chanticleers an early 4-0 lead.

NC State answered Brown's homer with two solo shots in the bottom half when Alec Makarewicz and Jacob Cozart smacked back-to-back home runs, trimming the Chanticleers' advantage to 4-2. Makarewicz and Cozart both powered their homers to opposite field to make it a two-run game.

Wolfpack starting pitcher Ryan Marohn settled in after the first, retiring eight straight batters from the second frame to the fifth to finish his outing going 5.1 innings with just four hits allowed and three strikeouts.

The Wolfpack knotted the score behind a solo home run from Pennington and a game-tying RBI single from Sosa in the third inning. Pennington's solo shot traveled 451 feet to cut the Chanticleers' lead to 4-3 before Sosa's two-out RBI single through the right side tied the score at 4-4.

The Chanticleers jumped back in front 5-4 behind Jake Books' two-out solo homer in the top of the sixth. NC State then answered after the seventh-inning stretch to take its first lead of the night at 8-5.

Pennington, Serrano III and Sosa paced the Pack with two RBI apiece, while the Wolfpack's first four batters in its starting lineup each recorded two runs scored apiece.

Coastal Carolina reliever Bryce Shaffer (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

UP NEXT
NC State continues its four-game home stretch when it welcomes Tobacco Road rival Duke to Doak Field at Dail Park. This weekend's ACC series against the ninth-ranked Blue Devils is set to begin Friday at 6 p.m. Friday's game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.