NC State Athletics’ week in review: March 20 - March 26

NC State Athletics dove headfirst into another intense round of competition this week. The Pack put up impressive performances across the board, but none were more impressive than the men’s swim and dive team’s fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. 

Baseball splits four games

NC State baseball went on the road this week to challenge the Boston College Eagles in another ACC series. But before traveling up to Chestnut Hill, the Pack made a pit stop in Wilmington to take on the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks.

On Tuesday, the Wolfpack managed to scrape past the Seahawks 11-8. After UNCW pushed the game into extra innings, NC State held them scoreless in the 10th inning and put three runs on the scoreboard to secure the win. 

In its three-game series against the Eagles, the red-and-white dropped the first game and then rallied to win the second before losing the final game in extra innings. On Friday, the Pack lost 4-1, with sophomore catcher Jacob Cozart scoring the team’s only run of the day. In Sunday’s doubleheader, NC State came out firing in the first game, blowing out Boston College 12-2. However, the Wolfpack failed to carry that momentum into the third game, suffering a heartbreaking 8-7 loss. 

Read more about the Wolfpack’s defeat of UNCW.

Read more about NC State’s series opener at Boston College.

Read more about the Pack doubleheader against the Eagles.

Cleared the fences (two of them to be exact) 💣#Pack9 | @PaytonG08 pic.twitter.com/l7Mx1ma7B7

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) March 26, 2023

Track and field hosts Raleigh Relays

NC State track and field hosted a plethora of schools from across the country for the Raleigh Relays last week. Even in such a large field of competition, the Wolfpack still put up a great number of podium finishes. 

All in all, four NC State athletes captured a first-place finish in their event, including 

graduate student Allie Hays in the women’s 10K Invitational, graduate student Jamar Davis in the men’s triple jump, graduate student Cam Murray in the men’s 100-meter dash and senior Jirah Sidberry in the women’s long jump

Read about the Raleigh Relays here.

Softball continues to rack up more losses than wins

NC State softball hosted the Radford Highlanders on Wednesday before making the trip to Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals in a three-game series. The Pack rallied to come back from behind and beat the Highlanders 8-7 before losing all three games against Louisville by scores of 4-7, 0-13 and 2-3. 

Against Radford, the Wolfpack went down 6-2 in the third inning, and for a moment it seemed that all hope was lost. But the red-and-white managed to chip away at the lead little by little, and it all paid off at the bottom of the seventh inning, when sophomore third baseman Hannah Goodwin hit a walk-off home run on the first pitch. 

It seemed that the Wolfpack lost any momentum it had gained somewhere on the way to Louisville. Over the course of the weekend, the Cardinals out-played the Pack time and time again, squashing the team’s hopes of securing its first road win of the season. 

Read more about the Pack's comeback win over Radford.

Read more about the Pack's weekend series against Louisville.

Marbury with the pinch run homer -- the program's first since March 1, 2022! B6 | 🐺 6, 🛡️7 pic.twitter.com/x1zadcih7c

— NC State Softball (@PackSoftball) March 22, 2023

Men’s swim and dive competes at NCAA Championships

NC State swim and dive captured a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships last week, with two Wolfpack athletes earning individual titles. The Pack recorded 373.5 points over the course of the competition and finished five and a half points behind fourth-place finisher Indiana. 

Junior Will Gallant collected a national title in the mile, finishing with a time of 14:28.94. The red-and-white’s other individual champion was sophomore Aiden Hayes, who upset the defending national champion to win the 200-yard butterfly. NC State also claimed a national title in the 200-yard medley relay, coming in under 1:21 to set an NCAA, U.S. Open and meet record. The national championship-winning relay squad consisted of senior Kacper Stokowski, graduate student Mason Hunter, senior Nyls Korstanje and sophomore David Curtiss.

Read more about the Pack's performance at the men's NCAA Championships.

All of the long hours. All of the hard work. All for the diamond. pic.twitter.com/qXJoTPIXzD

— NC State Swimming & Diving (@packswimdive) March 26, 2023

Men’s tennis splits two games

NC State men’s tennis won one and lost one this week, both against ACC teams. The Pack easily swept the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4-0 on Friday before suffering its first ACC loss of the season against Louisville on Sunday. 

Against both teams, the red-and-white dominated in the doubles round. On Friday, the Wolfpack had no problem taking down the Irish in the singles round, but it wasn’t able to do the same against the Cardinals. Sunday’s game was a different story; the two teams exchanged singles wins until the game ultimately came down to the final round. Sophomore Joe Wayand dropped that match in two sets, 6-4, 6-3, to hand Louisville the win, 4-3. 

Read more about the Pack's sweep of Notre Dame.

Read about NC State’s upset loss to Louisville. 

The guys were serving up the energy last night. 5-0 in the ACC. #Packrisin 📈 pic.twitter.com/2KbYNFDore

— NC State Men’s Tennis 🐺🎾 (@PackMensTennis) March 25, 2023

Women’s tennis goes undefeated

NC State women’s tennis collected two wins in the ACC this week, the first against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the second against the Louisville Cardinals. With these wins, the No. 8 Pack moves to 6-1 in the conference. 

Similar to the men’s squad, the Wolfpack easily defeated both teams in the doubles round. The red-and-white went on to steamroll the Cardinals in the singles round en route to a 7-0 win. The Irish put up more of a fight, but still fell to NC State 5-2. 

Read more about NC State's win over Notre Dame.

Read more about the Pack's dominant win over Louisville.

MILLER AND RAJECKI GET IT DONE ON COURT 2, 6-0 pic.twitter.com/eZMCWuxX3p

— NC State Women's Tennis 🐺🎾 (@PackWTennis) March 24, 2023