NC State baseball overwhelms Longwood, enjoys easy day at the plate

On a perfect afternoon for baseball, NC State crushed Longwood 14-0 in a game that was seemingly over before it began.

The Wolfpack (8-0) bats were hot from the start, helping the team jump out to an early lead. The Lancers (2-7) had no answer, and as a result the 10-Run Rule was implemented, which ends the game after seven innings when one team is leading by 10 runs or more.

“You can lose your focus pretty easily,” said junior left-handed pitcher PJ Labriola. “Just keep your foot on the gas pedal, keep doing what you’re doing.”

Junior designated hitter Carter Trice opened up the scoring with a two-run blast for the Pack in the first inning. Graduate right fielder Trevor Candelaria then followed up with a double, and with an assist from the Doak stream, sophomore catcher

Jacob Cozart hit the Wolfpack’s second home run of the inning.

“After, I was in shock because the Doak stream took that ball,” Cozart said. “I was just happy that I could help the team today.”

In the second frame, NC State loaded the bases, bringing sophomore shortstop Payton Green to the plate. He drilled a ball into the outfield, bringing in a couple more runs, and before the inning was over, the Pack would tack on one more run, making the score 7-0.

The scoring temporarily slowed in the third, with the Pack only scoring once, but NC State got back on track in the fourth when Cozart hit a three-RBI double. With the team up comfortably, head coach Elliott Avent elected to give his second-stringers a chance to showcase their talent. The team kept right along scoring into the fifth, when junior outfielder Dominic Pilolli smashed a home run to add two more to the Pack’s tally.

“We got a lot of rookies on this team and a lot of guys that are gonna be great baseball players at NC State,” Avent said. “Every time you can get them out on that field, they get a little bit better — I thought that was very important.”

While the Pack had no troubles scoring, the Lancers never found their way across home plate, becoming the third Wolfpack opponent to be shutout this season. NC State’s strong fielding played a key role in blanking Longwood as the team had zero errors.

“It makes it easy when you have a defense like we do,” Labriola said. “Just super clean the last couple games, and you just give them plays to make you have quick innings.”

The pitching staff did its part against the Lancers with Labriola making his first start in Raleigh. In four innings, the lefty only gave up three hits, preventing Longwood from getting around the diamond. However, Avent wants to see Labriola improve on the performance.

“I didn’t think PJ was as good as he was the first time at Coastal [Carolina] — I just didn’t think he was as sharp,” Avent said. “I thought the last inning he was a lot better and a lot more like he was at Coastal, but up to that point I didn’t think he was as sharp today.”

Once Avent called it a day for Labriola, he let multiple pitchers go to the mound, allowing them to gain some valuable experience. Aside from a pair of walks, the group did well, and junior lefty John Miralia closed out the game, recording a couple of strikeouts in the sixth.

The Wolfpack will be back in action at Doak Field on Wednesday, March 1 at 3 p.m. to take on the Radford Highlanders. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.