No. 14 Wolfpack Sees Third Straight Run-Rule Victory; Defeats Sacred Heart 15-5

Saturday, February 28

Raleigh, NC

2 p.m.

NC State

9-1

Sacred Heart

1-7

Sacred Heart

NC State

No. 14 Wolfpack Sees Third Straight Run-Rule Victory; Defeats Sacred Heart 15-5

2/28/2026 7:56:00 PM | Baseball

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RALEIGH, N.C. – For the fourth straight game, No. 14 NC State baseball won by double digits, and the Wolfpack secured the series with a 15-5 run-rule victory over Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon at Doak Field.

The 15 runs scored by the Wolfpack (9-1) give them 77 over the last four games, setting the program record for most runs in a four-game stretch.

NC State had five hitters record a multi-RBI game, led by Wyatt Peifer, who went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Chris McHugh and Andrew Wiggins each homered, and Mikey Ryan hit a bases-loaded triple to drive in three runs.

NC State has now scored 129 runs this season, allowing only 25 to its opponents. NC State has a team .370 batting average, led by Sherman Johnson, who is now hitting .565 on the year.

The five runs Sacred Heart scored were the most the Pack has allowed this season

The Wolfpack walked 13 times, with the 13^th coming from Drew Lanphere in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded, giving NC State a 10-run lead and ending the game early.

Jacob Dudan (3-0) was once again dominant, going 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts, earning his third win of the season. The two runs were the first Dudan had allowed this season.

Anderson Nance came in and worked 1.1 innings. The Pioneers (1-7) scored three runs on four hits off Nance. After replacing Dudan in the sixth with runners on first and second, Nance gave up a single, but Devin Mitchell, who had just come on as a defensive replacement, fielded the ball quickly and prevented the runner from scoring with a 9-2-5 putout.

It was the visitors who scored first as Sacred Heart put up runs in the second and third innings, but Dudan limited the damage with back-to-back strikeouts in the second, and the defense stood tall as the Pioneers attempted to steal a run on a stolen base, but a 2-4-3-2 putout got the runner trying for home.

The 2-0 Sacred Heart lead didn't last long as NC State tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third. McHugh added his team-leading 15^th RBI with a single to the right side of the infield to score Rett Johnson. Two batters later, Sherman Johnson singled to right-center, scoring McHugh to tie the game.

In a 2-2 game, all three Wolfpack runs in the fifth inning came from one swing of the bat with two outs, as Wiggins, in a two-strike count, hit a 401-foot home run to right field to break the deadlock. It was the second straight game Wiggins has hit a home run, and he has three on the season in all three games he has started.

A seven-run, three-hit sixth inning broke the game open for the home side. Luke Nixon had an RBI single with the bases loaded, Peifer doubled and scored two more, and the scoring culminated with a bases-loaded triple from Ryan.

With the score 12-2 and Sacred Heart on the verge of being run-ruled, they plated three to make it 12-5, but the Wolfpack got those three runs back after McHugh's 16^th RBI of the year came on a home run and two bases-loaded walks from Peifer and Lanphere.

The series concludes tomorrow, Sunday, March 1, at 1 p.m., when NC State and Sacred Heart wrap up the weekend series from the Doak. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX and can be heard on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network app.