NC State Baseball Extends Winning Streak in Style

RALEIGH – No. 7 NC State baseball (5-0) extended its win streak to five thanks to its 19-3 victory over Longwood (3-2) on Wednesday at Doak Field at Dail Park.

The offense combined for 18 hits en route to its third double-digit scoring game. This is the fifth consecutive game where the Wolfpack has not allowed an opponent to score in the first five innings, and it is outscoring its opponents, 74-16.

The Pack struck early in the first on a Tommy White RBI single to center field after Devonte Brown led off the frame with a double to left field. In the second, the Pack reloaded for six runs on four hits, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back hits of LuJames Groover III’s 2-RBI single, Dominic Pilolli’s 2-RBI triple, and Josh Hood’s RBI double all to the right side of the diamond.

After three quiet innings, the offense got back on the board in the sixth, posting four runs on a single by Groover, his third of the day, a pair of wild pitches, and a sac fly to take an 11-0 lead.

In the seventh the Pack exploded for six more runs, extending its lead to 17-0. Will Marcy led off the side with his first career home run to center field, and then after Payton Green doubled off of the center-field wall Brown stepped up and launched a two-run homer to left field. Two at-bats later, Eddie Eisert tallied his first career triple, scoring Groover from second, and then he scored on an error.

In his second at-bat of the inning, Marcy drove in Hood from second with a single up the middle to cap off the six-run frame.

The Pack’s offense continued to shine in the eighth, as it plated its final two runs of the day on Eisert’s single to right-center and Matt Oldam’s double up the right-field line with runners in scoring position.

In the top of the ninth, the Lancers managed to avoid the shutout as they pushed two runs across on a 2-RBI double by Gran Melnyk and a bases-loaded walk.

Six different players tallied multiple hits in the contest, led by Brown (3-for-4) and Groover (3-for-6) who both tallied three RBIs and scored a combined seven runs. Hood additionally drove in three runs in his 2-for-5 outing.

In his first career start and second career appearance for NC State baseball, Logan Whitaker (1-0) threw five shutout innings, surrendering just two hits while fanning five batters. Garrett Payne and Brandon Hudson combined for three shutout innings of relief, while Trey Cooper and Cooper King made their first appearances of the year out of the bullpen.

NC State will round out its eight-game homestand this weekend when it welcomes Quinnipiac to Doak Field at Dail Park for a three-game series. The teams will play Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Friday’s baseball game will be broadcast on the ACC Network, while Saturday and Sunday’s games will be on ACCNX. All three games will have an audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network App.

(Courtesy of NC State Athletics)