No. 21 NC State falls at No. 7 East Carolina as Alec Makarewicz returns to old stomping grounds
GREENVILLE, N.C. — When his name echoed over the sound system at East Carolina’s Clark-LeClair Stadium, a chorus of mostly boos rained down on him. By the time he stepped into the left-handed batter’s box, The Jungle in right field chanted “traitor” at him.
But it was Alec Makarewicz, who transferred from ECU to NC State in the offseason, who had the last laugh. The slugger drew a four-pitch walk his first time up and clubbed a solo moonshot right back to the right field crowd in his second at-bat.
Makarewicz’s power was sandwiched between two other Wolfpack homers in the third gave the red and white a two-run lead, but that wasn’t enough. The No. 7 Pirates scored five runs after that sequence to beat the No. 21 Wolfpack 10-6 Tuesday night, completing the season sweep in front of a record-setting crowd of 6,054.
The Longwood, Fla., native spent his first four seasons with the team clad in purple and yellow and made his first trip back to Greenville since he joined the Wolfpack in Raleigh. Makarewicz finished the night 2-for-4 at the plate with the solo shot and a walk.
Freshman reliever Jacob Dudan wore the loss after he gave up four runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout in 1.1 innings out of the bullpen.
NC State couldn’t contain ECU’s bats
Each time the Wolfpack found ways to get runners across home plate, the Pirates had an answer — usually in a loud way.
After the Pack exploded for a four-run third inning, the Pirates tacked on a pair in the bottom of the frame to tie the game, including a solo shot by Jacob Starling. ECU was able to regain the lead in the fourth after an RBI single and fielder’s choice did the trick.
ECU was able to extend its advantage in the sixth when it appeared NC State reliever Shane Van Dam had settled the Pirates’ bats. He worked a three up, three down fifth inning, but ECU pounced on him in the sixth with a leadoff triple from Carter Cunningham, who scored on an RBI double in the next at-bat. The Pirates extended their lead with a sacrifice fly.
But NC State wasn’t out of it quite yet.
The Wolfpack managed to cut the deficit in half in the seventh as Makarewicz singled through the right side and ECU right fielder Jacob Jenkins-Cowart threw the ball into the Pirates’ dugout. That scored Josh Hogue before junior catcher Jacob Cozart hit a sacrifice fly to score Makarewicz.
ECU, however, had a response for that too. Pirates catcher Justin Wilcoxen led the inning off with a solo blast to push the Pirates’ lead back to three. ECU held on from there to eliminate any other threat NC State made the rest of the way.
Up Next
NC State returns home for a three-game series against Ball State this weekend at Doak Field. It will mark the final non-conference weekend series for the Wolfpack, which is 3-0 all time against the Cardinals.
