Freshmen Shine in No. 23 Wolfpack’s Friday Night Victory at No. 10 Virginia

Friday, May 10

Charlottesville, Va.

7 p.m.

NC State

28-18, 14-10

Virginia

36-13, 14-11

NC State

Virginia

Freshmen Shine in No. 23 Wolfpack’s Friday Night Victory at No. 10 Virginia

5/11/2024 12:17:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 23 NC State baseball team captured its sixth win over a top-10 opponent this season behind Friday night's 7-5 victory over No. 10 Virginia at Disharoon Park.

Freshman right-handed reliever Jacob Dudan recorded the final nine outs for NC State in the extended save situation, posting his team-high fifth save of the season. Dudan retired the side in order in the ninth to help the Wolfpack improve to 4-0 in ACC weekend openers against top-10 opponents and 5-0 in matchups played on ACC Network. Four of NC State's six top-10 victories this season have come on the road.

NC State (28-18, 14-10 ACC) opened Friday night's series opener with three straight hits to take a 1-0 lead. Eli Serrano III led off the game with a single to left field before Garrett Pennington ripped a double down the left-field line to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out. Alec Makarewicz then smacked an RBI single through the left side for a 1-0 advantage, tallying his team-high 63^rd RBI of the season.

Virginia (36-13, 14-11 ACC) answered the Wolfpack's early score when Jacob Ference lifted a two-out, three-run homer to the left-field bleachers. Ference's three-run shot gave the Cavaliers a 3-1 lead after the first.

Wolfpack starting pitcher Sam Highfill (5-1) responded with five straight scoreless frames, allowing the NC State offense to knot the score at 3-3 with two runs in the fifth. The Pack capitalized on a pair of Virginia mistakes to plate both its runs in the inning. Pennington reached on a dropped fly ball to open the fifth and came around to score on a double play two batters later.

Brandon Butterworth then drilled his fifth homer of the season to tie the score at 3-3. Butterworth's no-doubter deep into the left-field bleachers came two pitches after Virginia first baseman Ethan Anderson allowed an inning-ending pop foul ball to drop.

Wolfpack freshmen Luke Nixon and Alex Sosa broke the 3-3 tie with back-to-back two-out singles in the seventh. Nixon worked into a hitter's count at 3-1 before lining an RBI single past a diving attempt from Anderson at first for a 4-3 Wolfpack lead. Sosa then doubled the Pack's lead two pitches later, driving an RBI single into left-center.

After a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh, Dudan entered and tossed a scoreless frame to preserve the Pack's two-run lead. Dudan tallied a pair of strikeouts in the scoreless inning and left two runners stranded on an inning-ending groundout from Harrison Didawick.

Pennington's stellar Friday night performance continued in the eighth when he crushed a two-run homer to left-center. Pennington's two-run shot made it 7-3 Wolfpack and marked his 12^th home run of the season.

Virginia chopped its four-run deficit in half with its second multi-run homer of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Eric Becker's two-run shot cut the Pack's lead to 7-5. The Cavaliers brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth, but Dudan worked out of the jam with a strikeout of Casey Saucke.

Dudan then retired the final three outs to secure the Wolfpack win in the ninth.

Pennington paced the Pack with a 3-for-5 performance with a team-high three runs scored and two RBI. Eight of NC State's nine batters in the starting lineup recorded a hit with Pennington and Makarewicz each recording multi-hit outings.

Highfill earned the win after tossing six innings with six strikeouts, limiting the Cavaliers to five hits. He retired the side in order twice en route to his fifth win of the season. Virginia reliever Chase Hungate (6-1) suffered his first loss after allowing two runs in the top of the seventh.

UP NEXT
NC State looks to secure another top-10 road series victory in Saturday's matchup. First pitch at Disharoon Park is now set for noon and will stream live on ACC Network Extra. Saturday's first pitch has been moved up four hours from 4 p.m. due to inclement weather.