NC State Softball kicked off their home fall ball season Sunday afternoon at the Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Stadium with a double header against the Fayetteville Tech Trojans. Part two of the double header began a little after 3 pm with the first pitch thrown by #25 Devin Wallace for the Wolfpack. A dominant performance overall by the Wolfpack lead to the 26 – 0 score that left fans everywhere excited for the season to start next spring. Here is how it all went down.
Early stiffness shown by the pitcher #25 Devin Wallace led to her walking the first batter. After showing no improvement in her control during the next at-bat, assistant coach Patrick Swift came to the mound to calm her down. Wallace rebounded quickly by striking out the next batter and getting out of the inning safely with no runs allowed. Big bats on the offensive end for the Wolfpack overshadowed early pitching woes as they scored six runs alone in the first inning, including a booming two-run home run by #34 Skylar Johnson.
Defensively the Wolfpack looked very strong throughout the game and were communicating nicely out on the field. Only two errors were committed and they can be easily avoidable next game. One was a fumble on a ground ball to the infield and the other was due to a poorly thrown ball to first base. A strong arm by the catcher accounted for two outs by throwing runners out attempting to steal bases. A 6-4-3 double play to close out the second inning was the highlight of the defense today. Wallace fought through her early struggles and pitched a complete game racking in several strikeouts. She even stuck out the side in the 5th inning.
On the bats, the Wolfpack took advantage of their lesser opponents and put the ball into play. The Wolfpack only failed to score in one inning during the game. The batters stayed very patient in the box and waited for their pitch. The pitcher for the Trojans, #13, struggled today and walked many batters. The Wolfpack capitalized having runners on base and batted in those 26 runs. Alert base running was shown by the pack and no one was thrown out for stealing. A bomb three-run homer by #13 Randi Farricker and a double that scored three runs highlighted the 5th inning, where the Wolfpack scored their most runs.
With 12 returning players and a new head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, the team has very high hopes for the upcoming spring season. The team continues to improve and improve as fall ball continues. After posting early loses to UNC and ECU this month, the pack were able to learn from their mistakes and focus for the double header today and grab two wins out of two. Next the Wolfpack will take on UNCW Sunday October 14th at the Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Stadium for another double header.