No. 16 NC State struggles to hit, field in series-opening loss at No. 4 UNC

CHAPEL HILL — It seemed like the perfect start. NC State left fielder Josh Hogue clubbed a solo homer in the first to give the Wolfpack an early lead at No. 4 North Carolina on Thursday night. 

Although Hogue’s blast was able to snap a seven-game streak in which NC State hadn’t scored first, it wasn’t able to help power the Wolfpack past its rival Tar Heels. In all honesty, it was the only key hitting highlight NC State had in its 8-1 loss at UNC’s Boshamer Stadium — the Wolfpack’s fourth defeat in the last five games.

The Pack mustered just five hits (three in the first eight innings alone), while the Tar Heels were able to mash their way through the game with 12 of their own as they were 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position in the first of a three-game set in Chapel Hill. 

Here are three takeaways from the Wolfpack’s series-opening loss.

Pack’s bats overpowered

UNC ace Jake Knapp has a reputation for blowing his mid- to high-90s fastballs past opposing hitters with ease. While it seemed like NC State was able to get to him early with Hogue’s solo homer off a mislocated changeup, the right-hander was able to settle in.

And once Knapp’s command returned, he was virtually unhittable as he generated a mix of fly balls and groundouts to back up his 10th win of the season on the rubber. 

The 6-foot-5, 270-pound graduate student allowed just one run on two hits with four strikeouts and no walks in eight innings on the mound. At one point, Knapp retired 18 straight Wolfpack hitters from the second to the eighth inning. Of those, Knapp sent down eight via flyouts, six from groundouts with three strikeouts in the process.

“He was really good,” NC State skipper Elliott Avent said of Knapp. “I don’t think they’ve lost a game he’s pitched, and you can see why. He’s 93 to 96 the entire game and commanding that fastball. He’s got a good changeup to go with it, but that’s as good of command of a fastball at that velocity as I’ve seen this year. You tip your hat to him, he pitched really well.”

NC State’s lineup couldn’t find any way to get on the base paths consistently, which seemed to lead to the hitters being overly aggressive at the plate. The Pack didn’t work counts, instead it swung early and often, leading to an efficient evening on the mound for Knapp. 

That, in turn, allowed the Tar Heels’ crowd to propel the home team clad in light blue and white to its 37th win of the year — and its fourth straight over NC State at Boshamer Stadium.

Errors return

In hindsight, a passed ball off the glove of sure-handed catcher Alex Sosa in the first inning should have been a sign NC State’s defense was going to be an adventure at UNC. 

That uncharacteristic miscue allowed Kane Kepley, who led off with a double, to move 90 feet away from home — and it took just one batter for him to score and knot the game at one. The Wolfpack’s messy defense only continued after that.

In the second, it was a junior third baseman Matt Heavner overthrow to first on what seemed to be a ground ball with one out. UNC’s Tyson Bass then stole second and scored on an Alex Madera single to put the Tar Heels in front, a lead they never relinquished. Oh, and in the third? Junior left fielder Brayden Fraasman bobbled a double in the corner, which allowed Kepley to reach third and later come around to extend UNC’s lead to three . 

The Wolfpack’s early fielding misfires marked the team’s 11th game with multiple errors this season. It battled poor defense early in the year as it logged at least one error in nine of its first 10 games, including a pair of three-gaffe contests. 

“It’s baseball,” Avent said. “I don’t know anybody that’s ever played this game perfect. … But that happens. I thought we played OK tonight, but I thought Knapp was the big story.”

But after NC State’s rocky opening month of the year, it seemed to have figured out its mistakes. It was able to string together quality defense, allowing its pitchers to cruise, which led to the Wolfpack’s climb from No. 234 in the RPI to No. 29. 

Although it was able to work through poor fielding from early in the season, those same mistakes proved to be costly in a marquee opportunity to make a statement in the series opener on the road.

Bullpen preserved

While NC State’s defense didn’t help him early on, sophomore lefty Ryan Marohn was able to work deep into the game to help keep the Wolfpack’s top relievers ready for the final two games of the series. 

Marohn, a noted workhorse in the Pack’s stable of arms, tossed 99 pitches in 6.1 innings as he seemed to eat frames in the latter half of his start. The Chantilly, Va., native allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits with three strikeouts. 

Once his day was over, sophomore right-hander Jaxon Lucas ate the rest of the game to get the Wolfpack back to Raleigh for the night. He went 1.2 innings with one run allowed on two hits with two strikeouts.

Now, NC State has all three of its go-to bullpen arms — junior Andrew Shaffner, sophomore Jacob Dudan and freshman Anderson Nance — available going into Friday and Sunday’s games. Those two contests have entered must-win territory for the Pack to find a way back into a hosting opportunity in the NCAA Tournament. 

If NC State falls short again in Chapel Hill? It’s likely to be a 2-seed on the road in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament, barring a miracle that could help its metrics climb into striking distance.