NC State
1-0
Evansville
0-1
#Pack9 Secures Opening Day Win Over Evansville, 24-6
2/18/2022 7:56:00 PM | Baseball
RALEIGH - No. 7 NC State baseball opened its 2022 season on Friday with a 24-6 win over Evansville at Doak Field at Dail Park, scoring runs in six out of eight innings.
The Opening Day win marks the sixth time in seven years that the Wolfpack has clinched a victory in its season opener, as 11 players made their debuts in a Wolfpack uniform. Under head coach Elliott Avent, the Pack is now 19-7 on Opening Day.
NC State's 24 runs, including nine doubles, are the most in a game since March 4, 2020 against Coastal Carolina in Raleigh, while its 24 hits are the most in a contest since March 9, 2019 vs. Pittsburgh.
Freshman Tommy White and transfer Dominic Pilolli showed out in their debuts with the Pack, as they combined for 11 runs batted in and five home runs. White led the squad with a 5-for-6 outing, scoring five runs with six RBIs and three home runs, while Pilolli went 3-for-5 at the plate with two long balls and five RBIs.
Additionally, Josh Hood (3-for-5), LuJames Groover III (2-for-6), Jacob Cozart (2-for-4), J.T. Jarrett (2-for-4) and Payton Green (2-for-4) all turned in multi-hit performances.
On the mound, Sam Highfill tossed 5.1 innings to pick up the win, as he surrendered three earned runs on six hits while fanning four batters. Five other pitchers combined for the final 4.2 innings to help the Pack secure the victory.
White put the Wolfpack on the board in the first inning with the team's first home run of the 2022 season and first of his collegiate career. Then, a seven-run second inning, highlighted by a bases-clearing triple and a two-run home run by Dominic Pilolli, put the Pack up 8-0.
After a quiet third and fourth innings, the Pack put up 16 runs in the final four innings of the contest. White and Pilolli started the offensive spark with back-to-back home runs in the fifth, their second round trippers of the day, to make it 10-0.
Evansville scored their first runs in the sixth on a 2-RBI double, two-run home run and error, but the Pack answered in the bottom frame with a single from White and a pair of doubles by Hood and Cozart to make the score 14-3.
Another single and an error in the seventh pushed a run across for the Purple Aces, but once again the Pack scored four more runs via a RBI single from White, a 2-RBI double from Pilolli and a bases-loaded wild pitch.
White blasted his third home run of the game to highlight the eighth inning, as he became the first Pack player since April 7, 2010 (Chris Schaeffer vs. Coppin State) to hit three homers in a single game. Pinch hitter DeAngelo Giles and Green rounded out the scoring with a pair of 2-RBI doubles.
The Aces managed to cut into its deficit in its final outs with three more runs on a single, double and error to make it 24-6.
NC State returns to action Saturday when it faces Evansville in the second of a three-game series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Doak Field at Dail Park, and the game will be broadcast on ACCNX.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Highfill, Sam (1-0)
L: Gray, Shane (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Scherry, Simon 1 ; Widder, Brent 1 ; Roberts, Eric 1 ; Hord, Brendan 1
HR: Berkey, Evan 1
RBI: Scherry, Simon 1 ; Widder, Brent 3 ; Berkey, Evan 2
SH: Rumsey, Ty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Widder, Brent 1 ; Berkey, Evan 1 ; Borgstrom, Danny 2 ; Rumsey, Ty 2
Batting:
2B: Groover III, LuJames 1 ; Pilolli, Dominic 1 ; Hood, Josh 2 ; Cozart, Jacob 1 ; Jarrett, J.T. 1 ; Giles, DeAngelo 1 ; Green, Payton 2
3B: Brown, Devonte 1
HR: White, Tommy 3 ; Pilolli, Dominic 2
RBI: Brown, Devonte 3 ; Groover III, LuJames 1 ; White, Tommy 6 ; Pilolli, Dominic 5 ; Hood, Josh 1 ; Cozart, Jacob 2 ; Jarrett, J.T. 1 ; Giles, DeAngelo 2 ; Green, Payton 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brown, Devonte 2 ; Groover III, LuJames 3 ; White, Tommy 5 ; Pilolli, Dominic 3 ; Hood, Josh 2 ; Marcy, Will 1 ; Cozart, Jacob 1 ; Godman, Jacob 1 ; Jarrett, J.T. 1 ; Giles, DeAngelo 1 ; Eisert, Eddie 1 ; Green, Payton 3
HBP: Jarrett, J.T. 1 ; Green, Payton 1
