N.C. State blows out Deacons in first game of final ACC series
Wake Forest scored the first two runs of the series opener against N.C. State on Thursday night and that was about the extent of what was positive for the Deacons.
N.C. State beat Wake Forest 14-3 at Doak Field in the first game of the final ACC series, getting a grand slam by Alex Sosa to end the game via mercy rule in the eighth inning.
Wake Forest (36-17, 15-13 ACC) had its nine-game winning streak snapped in emphatic fashion. The Deacons used seven pitchers — neither of whom was Chase Burns or Josh Hartle, who are scheduled to start each of the next two games, respectively — and six of them gave up at least one run.
David Falco Jr., starting for the third straight week, gave up four runs on five hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings. Haiden Leffew and Blake Morningstar pitched 1 1/3 innings each, Leffew giving up two runs (one earned) and Morningstar giving up a run.
Crawford Wade pitched a scoreless seventh, working around a hit batter. Ben Shenosky, Will Gervase and Andrew Koshy combined to give up seven runs in the eighth, with Koshy serving up Sosa’s grand slam.
All in all, Wake’s pitchers combined to allow 14 runs on 10 hits and nine walks, two hit batters, two wild pitches and a balk. The Deacons’ defense didn’t exactly help, as left fielder Javar Williams and catcher Cameron Gill both committed errors in the fifth.
The only runs Wake Forest scored were back-to-back solo homers by Seaver King and Adam Tellier in the second, and a solo homer by Nick Kurtz in the fifth.