#21 Wolfpack Drops Midweek Contest at #7 ECU

Tuesday, April 23

Greenville, N.C.

6 p.m.

NC State

22-16

East Carolina

32-8

NC State

East Carolina

4/23/2024 10:01:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The No. 21 NC State baseball team dropped a midweek rivalry matchup 10-6 to No. 7 East Carolina at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Tuesday night.

East Carolina (32-8) struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the opening frame. The Pirates built their 2-0 lead behind a Jacob Jenkins-Cowart sacrifice fly and a Jacob Starling RBI triple.

Back-to-back-to-back home runs pushed NC State (22-16) in front in the bottom of the third. After Garrett Pennington battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a one-out walk, Josh Hogue ignited the Wolfpack rally with a game-tying, two-run homer to knot the score at 2-2. Alec Makarewicz then crushed his team-high 16^th homer of the season from the left side of the plate to give NC State a 3-2 advantage.

Jacob Cozart capped off the trio of Wolfpack homers in the third with a solo shot down the right-field line. Cozart's homer marked his fourth in as many games to put NC State in front 4-2.

The Pirates erased the Pack's two-run edge with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. ECU then re-established a two-run lead with an RBI single from Starling and an RBI groundout from Dixon Williams in the fourth.

East Carolina extended its lead to four runs with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Carter Cunningham's RBI double and Starling's sacrifice fly stretched ECU's advantage to 8-4.

NC State cut its deficit back to two with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. Hogue ripped a leadoff single to the left-center gap before Makarewicz singled through the right side, advancing to second base on the throw before Jenkins-Cowart's airmailed toss to third base sailed into the ECU dugout to make it 8-5. Cozart then lifted a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field to trim ECU's lead to 8-6.

Justin Wilcoxen's solo homer in the bottom of the seventh made it 9-6 Pirates heading to the eighth. The Pirates added their 10^th and final run of the night when Williams delivered an RBI single to right field.

Aaron Groller earned the save with two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. ECU's Ethan Norby (3-0) notched the win, while Jacob Dudan (4-1) suffered the loss.

Makarewicz and Hogue paced the Wolfpack with two-hit performances, while Cozart tied Hogue with two RBI apiece.

UP NEXT
The 21^st-ranked Wolfpack returns to Raleigh for its final nonconference series of the 2024 regular season. NC State will host Ball State this weekend at Doak Field at Dail Park. Friday's series opener is set to start at 6 p.m. and will stream live on ACC Network Extra.

NC State baseball will also sponsor its inaugural Victory Over Cancer game on Sunday afternoon against Ball State. The Wolfpack will be raising awareness and funds to support pediatric cancer research alongside #PackPro Trea Turner's fund with the V Foundation.