Wolfpack Snaps Seven-Game Slide with 7-3 Victory Over Notre Dame

Thursday, April 2

Raleigh, NC

6 p.m.

NC State

19-11, 4-6

Notre Dame

15-10, 6-7

Notre Dame

NC State

Wolfpack Snaps Seven-Game Slide with 7-3 Victory Over Notre Dame

4/2/2026 11:33:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. – Entering the day averaging 3.7 runs per game in ACC play, NC State broke out of its slump after a five-run second inning and added two insurance runs in the eighth on its way to a 7-3 victory Thursday night over Notre Dame to open the series at the Doak.

Six of the seven NC State (19-11, 4-6) runs came from the bats of Chris McHugh and Luke Nixon. McHugh went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, and Nixon hit his third home run of the season, a three-run shot. Rett Johnson remains a tough out, going 3-for-4 with two doubles.

Each of the seven runs was scored by a different Wolfpack player, with six runs coming with two outs. NC State had the leadoff runner on in six of the eight innings.

On the mound, Ryan Marohn (5-1) and Anderson Nance combined to hold Notre Dame (15-10, 6-7) to just three runs on seven hits, with four walks and 12 strikeouts. Marohn pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.

Nance came in during a two-run game and earned his second save of the season after closing out 2.1 scoreless innings, limiting the Irish to two hits, a walk, and striking out three. In the top of the eighth, Notre Dame had its best chance to tie the game, with runners on third and first and two outs. Nance escaped the jam with a ground ball that hit off his glove and went to Nixon at second, who threw out the runner at first.

Insurance runs were scored in the bottom of the eighth as the Wolfpack, with two outs, loaded the bases after Brayden Frassman and Drew Lanphere singled and Johnson walked. McHugh, who had tied the game with a single in the second, gave the Wolfpack a four-run cushion with another single that scored Frassman and Lanphere.

The two Wolfpack runs in the bottom of the eighth marked their first since the five-run inning. Notre Dame reliever Xavier Hirsch pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and striking out two. Fighting Irish starter Caden Crowell (1-2) was credited with the loss after pitching only two innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, with one walk and three strikeouts.

Notre Dame struck first in the top of the second with two runs, but NC State responded immediately when Ty Head started the inning with a single, and Brandon Novy moved him to third with another single. A sacrifice fly from Frassman put the Pack on the board. Johnson singled and put runners on the corners again for McHugh to tie the game.

Nixon delivered the big hit on a 0-2 count, with a pitch he liked for a 355-foot home run that just cleared the right-field wall.

NC State and Notre Dame continue the series on Friday, April 3rd, at 6 p.m. from the Doak. Heath Andrews will start on the mound for the Wolfpack, with the game broadcast on ACCNX.