NC State falls to Kentucky, 5-4, in extra innings

The Wolfpack will face the loser to Florida-Texas A&M on Monday

Well… that sucked.

After scoring three runs across the 7th to 9th innings to take a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, NC State surrendered a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th and then a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th to lose their College World Series opener, 5-4. The Wolfpack will next play Monday against the loser of Saturday night’s Texas A&M versus Florida game.

NC State put two runners on in the 1st inning on a leadoff Eli Serrano walk and two-out Jacob Cozart single, but couldn’t push a run across. Kentucky, on the other hand, were able to notch a run in the opening stanza. Emilien Pitre reached on a double to deep centerfield that was misplayed by Serrano. A throwing error by Sam Highfill on a lazy pickoff to second base moved Pitre up to third base and he scored on a single by Nick Lopez for a 1-0 lead.

The Wolfpack again put a pair of runners on in the 2nd inning, and again were unable to capitalize. Luke Nixon was hit by a pitch with one out and Matt Heavner followed with a single through the left side, but a pair of groundouts ended another scoreless inning.

After Highfill worked around a leadoff walk to put up a scoreless 2nd for the Wildcats, NC State tied the game in the top of the 3rd. Garrett Pennington led off with a single to left field and advanced to second base on an Alec Makarewicz groundout. Cozart came through with a single to right field after a lengthy at-bat to score Pennington and tie the game.

Highfill again worked around a leadoff walk in the 3rd to keep the Wildcats from scoring again. A Noah Soles two-out single was all that was doing for the Pack in a scoreless 4th.

The bottom half of the 4th saw Highfill’s real only mistake pitch on the evening. Ryan Nicholson led off with an opposite field single and then Highfill hung a 1-2 breaking ball to Nolan McCarthy that McCarthy lofted in the air down the left field line and the wind pushed over the fence for a 2-run homer and a 3-1 Kentucky lead.

The score stayed there for the next two innings as Highfill settled in to record 12 outs against the next 12 hitters he faced. Meanwhile, State tied the game in the top of the 7th on a big swing from Makarewicz, a two-run homer to score himself and Soles, who had led off the inning with a single.

Jacob Dudan worked a scoreless 8th inning, stranding Pitre at third after a leadoff walk, stolen base, and balk moved him 90 feet from home with one out.

Pennington led off the top of the 9th with a walk and moved to third on a successful full count run-and-hit with Cozart, who singled down the right field line.

The first pitch of the next at-bat was a wild pitch in the dirt to Brandon Butterworth that skipped to the backstop allowing Pennington to score and give State their first lead of the game at 4-3.

Heading into the bottom of the 9th, NC State chose to stick with Dudan instead of going with Derrick Smith for the save situation. That decision immediately backfired as Nicholson lofted a fly ball to left field that the Charles Schwab Field jet stream carried out into the Kentucky bullpen to tie the game. McCarthy followed that up with a single to left field which signaled the end of Dudan’s outing.

Smith entered the game and recorded an out on a sacrifice bunt to move pinch runner Ty Crittenberger up to second base. A groundout to third base allowed Crittenberger to move to third on a play that was upheld via review. After a walk to Ryan Waldschmidt, Smith got a glove on a Pitre comebacker that deflected to Butterworth on the first base side of the second base bag for a 1-6-3 groundout and the end of the inning.

The Pack went down in order in the top of the 10th, thanks in part to a diving catch in centerfield by Crittenberger. In the bottom of the 10th, Devin Burkes walked to lead off the inning for the Wildcats and then was thrown out by Cozart while attempting to steal second base with one out.

Unfortunately, that seemingly big out ended up inconsequential as Mitchell Daly made use of the Schwab Field jet stream for the third wind-aided long ball by Kentucky in the game, serving as a walk-off for the Wildcats.

NC State hit the ball harder more often and came through with the bigger defensive plays, but ultimately Kentucky got the right lift on the right balls to the right part of the park enough times to win the game. Such is life in the game of baseball. It sucks, but it’s how it goes sometimes.

Four Pack hitters tallied multi-hit games in the form of Cozart (3-for-4, RBI, BB), Makarewicz (2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI), Pennington (2-for-4, 2 R, BB), and Soles (2-for-3, R). Alex Sosa also reached safely multiple times via a pair of walks. Highfill (7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) pitched incredibly well, quite possibly with his best outing of the year.

The road is tough going forward for State going forward as they will need to win games on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday if they are to advance to the College World Series finals next weekend.