NC State
32-19, 18-11
Wake Forest
36-19, 15-15
17th-Ranked #Pack9 Complete Sweep of No. 8 Wake Forest in 9-6 Thriller
5/18/2024 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
NC State Earns Third Sweep of ACC Play, Fifth of 2024 Campaign
With the victory, the Wolfpack secured the three seed in the 12-team field at the ACC Baseball Tournament which begins on Tuesday, May 21, and will be paired with sixth-seeded Duke and the No. 10 seed, Virginia Tech.
NC State's afternoon was highlighted offensively by game-tying home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, with Jacob Cozart erasing a three-run deficit in the fifth frame on a three-run knock and Alex Sosa contributing his second longball of the weekend via a solo shot in the sixth. Sosa tabbed four hits during the Pack's three-game sweep of the Demon Deacons, with the freshman reaching base an impressive nine times over 13 plate appearances stretching back to Thursday's series opener.
The Wolfpack took its first lead of the day in the eighth inning, after a two-out throwing error from Wake Forest allowed Eli Serrano III to reach first base. Serrano's grounder plated Sosa who reached base on a full-count walk to push the Pack ahead 7-6.
After Serrano III swiped second base, Garrett Pennington doubled down the right-field line to triple the Wolfpack's lead from one run to three runs at 9-6, proving to be an insurmountable lead in the top of the ninth as Derrick Smith recorded his fifth save of the year while striking out the side to clinch the sweep.
While the Pack outscored Wake 8-1 over the last five innings, NC State trailed by as many as four runs after a three-run frame by the Demon Deacons in the third inning and a one-run effort in the fourth gave Wake Forest a 5-1 edge.
Wake also jumped ahead 1-0 on a solo home run in the second inning, meaning that the Deacs scored first in each of the series' three contests.
The Pack battled back to knot the score at 5-5 after Pennington collected his first of three RBI on a one-out single in the fifth to score Serrano III followed by Cozart's three-run jack that plated Pennington and Alec Makarewicz, who reached on a single.
Joshua Gunther took the loss on the mound for Wake Forest, dropping him to 0-3 on the year while the Demon Deacon offense was led by Adam Tellier who registered a game-high three hits.
With its regular season campaign now complete, NC State will shift its focus to the postseason with the ACC Tournament on deck. The full schedule for the 2024 ACC Baseball Tournament will be released on Sunday, May 18.
#GoPack | @NCStateBaseball
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Marohn, Ryan (4-2)
L: Joshua Gunther (0-3)
S: Smith, Derrick (5)
Batting:
3B: Seaver King 1
HR: Jack Winnay 1 ; Jake Reinisch 1
RBI: Nick Kurtz 1 ; Jack Winnay 2 ; Jake Reinisch 1 ; Adam Tellier 1 ; Liam Willson 1
SF: Nick Kurtz 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Marek Houston 1 ; Jack Winnay 1 ; Jake Reinisch 1 ; Seaver King 1 ; Antonio Morales 1 ; Liam Willson 1
Batting:
2B: Pennington, Garrett 1 ; Nixon, Luke 1
HR: Cozart, Jacob 1 ; Sosa, Alex 1
RBI: Serrano III, Eli 1 ; Pennington, Garrett 3 ; Cozart, Jacob 3 ; Sosa, Alex 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Serrano III, Eli 2 ; Pennington, Garrett 1 ; Makarewicz, Alec 1 ; Cozart, Jacob 1 ; Nixon, Luke 1 ; Sosa, Alex 2 ; Soles, Noah 1
SB: Serrano III, Eli 1 ; Soles, Noah 1
HBP: Soles, Noah 1
