Wolfpack bats shine in 24-6 blowout of Evansville

NC State pounded out 24 runs on 24 hits Friday afternoon, as they vanquished Evansville by a final score of 24-6 in the 2022 season opener for both squads.

Freshman Tommy White had himself quite the debut, going 5-for-6 with 3 HR, 5 R, and 6 RBI.

Charlotte transfer Dominic Pilolli belted two long balls of his own in his Wolfpack debut, finishing 3-for-5 with 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, and 5 RBI.

Really, I could go on for quite a while going one-by-one through the order talking about the offensive display that was put on yesterday. Just look at this box score (from GoPack.com):

GoPack.com

The bats were great on the day, while Wolfpack starting pitcher Sam Highfill tossed scoreless frames over his first five innings. He ran into trouble in the sixth, allowing three runs on four hits while recording just a single out before handing the ball off and calling it a day. Thankfully by that point, State was already out to a seven-run lead and Highfill walked away from the day with his first win of the season.

NC State used five pitchers to close out the game: Baker Nelson, John Miralia, Jacob Halford, Tristan Sipple, and Win Scott. The appearances for Halford and Scott were their Wolfpack debuts.

Aside from Highfill’s sixth inning and Scott’s ninth, the only blight on the day for State was the defense. After a season where the Wolfpack were one of the best in the country on the fielding end, NC State committed three errors on the day and had a bad miscue on a flyball that resulted in a ground-rule double for the Purple Aces. The Pack will need to tighten up the defense going forward.

Alas, don’t let me gripe too much on an 18-run win.

State is 1-0 and goes for win #2 and the series win Saturday at 2:00pm. Matt Willadsen will be on the mound for the Pack.