NC State beats UNCW 11-8 in 10 innings

The game Tuesday night wasn’t quite a work of art from a pitching standpoint—there were the 19 combined runs, sure, but also 15 combined walks. (Though both teams did strike out 14 times as well.)

NC State prevailed in the end, though it played a little more baseball than it wanted to; the Pack had an 8-6 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, where Justin Lawson’s recent struggles continued and the Seahawks tied things up.

Fortunately, State did not waste any time retaking the lead—thanks to some help from UNCW. With one out and runners on first and second, Cannon Peebles grounded a would-be double play ball to second; Wilmington got the out at second, but the throw to first was off, which allowed the go-ahead run to score. State added two more with RBI singles after that.

Lawson, encouragingly, struck out the side in the bottom half of the inning after surrendering a leadoff single.

Early on, NC State had the chance to put together some big innings but couldn’t come through in a couple of two-out, bases-loaded situations. Kalae Harrison provided the clutch hit in State’s four-run seventh, giving State an 8-6 lead with his two-out, two-RBI single.

It was a bit of a weird one in that 12 of State’s 13 hits were singles; its only extra-base hit was Gino Groover’s solo shot to center in the fifth. Hey, whatever works.

NC State is off now to BC, where it will begin a three-game set on Friday afternoon. A series victory in Boston sure would be dandy.