NC State Makes Statement in Win Over #2 Clemson

Photo courtesy of NC Athletics

North Carolina State made an emphatic statement with their 14-4 run rule victory over #2 Clemson on Thursday night. Coming into this showdown with the Tigers, NC State had scored six or more runs in 11 of their last 13 games, and scored eight or more runs in eight of those games. The Pack is second in ACC play with a .406 OBP and came ready to face a Top 5 opponent this weekend.

Clemson enjoyed a brief lead in the top of the 1st inning following Collin Priest’s two out, two-run blast that glanced off the top of Josh Hogue’s glove over the left field fence. It was the sophomore slugger’s ninth home run of the year. The Tigers were 8-0 in the eight previous games that Priest had homered. 

NC State Bats Remain Red Hot

After going down 2-0 early, the Wolfpack bats went to work and gave Aidan Knaak his worst career outing. Prior to last night’s game, the Clemson ace had not given up more than six runs in a game before. NC State’s offense chased the right-hander after scoring eight runs in the first four innings.

Facing a Clemson team that is notoriously difficult to put away, the NC State offense piled on and scored a run in each of the first six innings to build a 10-4 lead. Seven of the Pack’s starters enjoyed multi-hit games while the two who didn’t– Matt Ossenfort and Matt Heavner– combined to reach base four times.

“It's been a work in progress all year because it's a whole new offense from last year,” NC State head coach Elliott Avent said post-game.”Everybody is turning it over to everybody else and starting to trust one another. They feel like they don't have to do too much themselves, which gives you more completed at-bats and keeps you from swinging out of the zone.

The Wolfpack played clean defense, pitched well, and were aggressive on the basepaths. Ty Head doubled on a ground ball to right field; the 6’6” lumbering Matt Ossenfort advanced twice on sacrifice flies and scored on a wild pitch; and Luke Nixon took advantage of a Clemson error to take an empty third base on a routine fly out to left field. Heavner, the nation’s leader in sacrifice bunts, got two down with one perfectly placed for an infield single. 

We played more of a complete game, Avent said. “It reminded me of last year when we played Georgia, it was the same kind of complete game.”

Right fielder Brayden Fraasman, who entered the game slashing .278/.340/.514, enjoyed a career night out of the six-hole of the lineup– going a perfect 5-for-5 with two home runs, a double, and seven runs batted in. The Okeana, Ohio native gave State their initial lead of the game in the bottom of the first when he laced a two-strike, two out single back up the middle to drive in two runs. He singled up the middle again in the third inning to drive in another run before doubling down the right field line with two outs to drive in Alex Sosa and make it 8-2 in the 4th inning.

“Obviously the name of the game is scoring runs,” Fraasman said post-game. “I'm just glad I could do it in those situations to allow our runners to score.”

But the former JUCO transfer wasn’t done yet. In the sixth inning, Fraasman crushed a high fastball over the left field fence for a no doubt solo home run, his ninth of the year. At that point, the veteran outfielder had already reached a new career high in RBIs in a game with five, surpassing his four RBI day on March 11th against North Carolina A&T. 

Fraasman stayed perfect in the ninth when he launched another high fastball down the left field line for a two-run long ball to bring his RBI total to seven on the day. The ball hugged the line for the duration of its journey over the left field fence, but there was no question as to whether it was getting out of the ballpark. Fraasman’s five hits and seven RBI were the most by an NC State player since Cannon Peebles had six hits and ten RBI against NJIT on March 4th, 2023.

“It was unbelievable,” Avent said. “You can play this game forever and not have a game like that.”

Anderson Nance Dazzles Again

Freshman reliever Anderson Nance relieved starter Dominic Fritton with a 8-3 lead in the 5th inning and continued his dominant scoreless streak. He entered the game with two on and nobody out. The righty was able to get Jarren Purify to fly out and strike out Collin Priest, but a nice piece of two strike, two out hitting from Jacob Jarrell allowed one inherited runner to score. Nance responded by striking out the next batter looking on four pitches.

The Clemson Tigers have erased big deficits multiple times this year, and with a possible momentum shift looming, Nance knew he couldn’t afford to let more than one inherited runner score.

“I think baseball is very momental,” the freshman said post-game, “And just giving up one run right there decreases their motivation to get more.”

The youngster showcased a mid-to-high 90s fastball paired with a devastating slider in the mid-80s. His third pitch, a low-80s changeup, has continued to improve and develop over this season and is becoming a big weapon. On Thursday night, he threw all three pitches for strikes and was able to utilize them in any situation.

Nance has been one of the very best freshmen pitchers in the entire country. Over 43.2 innings, he’s 7-1 with a sparkling 2.68 ERA and 45 strikeouts versus just nine walks. Over his last three outings against East Carolina, the Eden, North Carolina native has thrown 14 scoreless innings while walking zero and striking out 19 hitters. Opponents have a slash line of just .109/.128/.109 against him in that stretch. 

“He's been pretty special,” Avent said. “We’re talking about a freshman doing what he's doing, big situation after big situation, and it seems like he doesn't even have a pulse. He just does it without a lot of fanfare, but he's been pretty special.”

Michael Gillen Returns to the Mound 

Aside from Priest’s home run in the first, Clemson’s main bright spot came in the form of Michael Gillen making his season debut on the mound. A transfer from Seton Hall, Gillen was expected to be a key part of this Tiger pitching staff before an injury sidelined him in the preseason. He’ll likely need to be stretched out if Clemson is hoping for anything more than a one inning reliever, but adding a weapon such as Gillen to a powerful bullpen could be a gamechanger for head coach Erik Bakich and the Tigers in the postseason.  

The right-hander pitched well, tossing the only scoreless inning of the evening for Clemson. Gillen featured a 93 MPH heater paired with a solid low-80s slider with good command as he threw 11 of his 14 pitches for strikes. He struck out Heavner to start the inning before a sharp ground ball that ricocheted off Jarren Purify’s glove into right field allowed Ty Head to get a hustle double. He missed his spot in the next AB and hit the batter on a pitch that ran too far inside. Gillen responded by getting Josh Hogue to ground out and Justin DeCriscio to fly out.

Clemson, who is yet to drop an ACC series this season, will look to even the series against the Wolfpack tonight. Reigning ACC Pitcher of the Week Drew Titsworth will make his second career start on the mound for the Tigers against a scuffling Heath Andrews– who has given up 6+ runs over each of his last two starts. First pitch for tonight’s game will be at 6 PM.