Syracuse, NY - Rychcik Earns Career Win No. 400 in Doubleheader Split
Returning to his home state of New York, head coach Shawn Rychcik recorded his 400th career win as the NC State softball team split a doubleheader against Syracuse Saturday afternoon at Skytop Softball Stadium.
Returning to his home state of New York, head coach Shawn Rychcik recorded his 400th career win as the NC State softball team split a doubleheader against Syracuse Saturday afternoon at Skytop Softball Stadium.
The Wolfpack won game one of the twin bill, 5-4, and the Orange claimed game two by the same margin needing 11 innings to claim the victory. Rychcik, a native of Salamanca, N.Y., collected his 400th career win in his 12th season as a head coach with the Wolfpack's win in game one.
NC State moves to 20-25 and 4-10 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, while Syracuse is 22-18 and 7-9 in league action.
The Rundown (Game One)
- NC State struck first in the contest with a pair of runs in the second to grab a 2-0 lead.
- Alyssa Compton lined a two-out single to center field to score Hannah Yeager from third base and Cheyenne Balzer from second base.
- The Wolfpack added to its lead in the third after a solo home run by Hanna Sommer to make it 3-0. The redshirt junior deposited the 1-0 pitch over the fence in right center for her sixth blast of the season.
- Syracuse countered in the bottom of the inning with a run, after a triple to right center by Sammy Fernandez and she scored a few pitches later on a wild pitch.
- The Orange took the lead, 4-3, in the fifth with three runs on two hits and also benefitted from a couple errors by the NC State defense.
- Brittany Nimmo raced around from second base to score on a double play ball that never left the infield, as NC State knotted the score at four.
- In the top of the seventh, Balzer led off the inning with a solo home run, her second of the year, to give NC State a 5-4 advantage.
- Harli Hubbard slammed the door in the bottom of the inning, getting a lineout to Lana Van Dyken at shortstop, popup to Molly Martin at second base and a groundout to Martin to seal the win.
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Quick Hits
- Sommer led NC State at the plate with a 2-for-2 performance, highlighted by a solo home run.
- Balzer also had a pair of hits in the game, headlined by two runs scored and an RBI.
- Compton singled in the contest and drove in a couple runs.
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In the Circle
- Courtney Mirabella started in the circle for the Wolfpack and pitched five innings, striking out four batters and only allowed one earned run in a no decision.
- Hubbard relieved her and finished the game, tossing two scoreless innings allowing just one hit to earn the win, her fourth of the season.
- For Syracuse, Jocelyn Cater went the distance allowing five earned runs on five hits to suffer her seventh loss of the year.
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The Rundown (Game Two)
- The Wolfpack started fast in game two of the twin bill, plating four runs in the top of the first inning.
- Molly Hutchison drew a four-pitch walk, Meredith Burroughs singled and Sommer walked to load the bases with one out.
- Maggie Hawkins drove in the first run of the contest with a single to right field, as everyone advanced a base with Hutchison scoring to give NC State a 1-0 lead.
- Yeager followed with an RBI single to the shortstop, as Burroughs scored the Pack's second run of the game.
- NC State's third and fourth runs of the contest came after a single by Compton. Sommer scored and Hawkins, who avoided the tag from the Cuse catcher and dove back to the plate safely, also scored to pus the Wolfpack's lead to 4-0.
- Syracuse capitalized on miscues defensively by NC State in the fourth, plating three unearned runs to trim the deficit to 4-3.
- The Orange rallied to score a run in the bottom of the seventh, after Sydney O'Hara legged out an infield single allowing the tying from to score from third base to make it 4-4.
- After two scoreless extra-inning frames, Syracuse broke through in the bottom of the 10th after a double by Corinne Ozanne and an RBI single by Andrea Bombace to score the winning from third base to give the Cuse a 5-4 win.
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Quick Hits
- Van Dyken paced the Pack at the plate with a 2-for-4 outing, while four other players had one hit apiece.
- Burroughs, Compton, Hawkins and Yeager tallied one hit each in the contest.
- Ozanne led Syracuse with a 3-for-4 performance with a run scored.
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In the Circle
- Nimmo started on the mound for NC State, hurling six innings with four strikeouts and allowed just one earned run.
- Hubbard took over for Nimmo, pitching the final 3.1 innings allowing just one run.
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On Deck
NC State and Syracuse will meet in game three of the series Sunday at noon. After the teams split Saturday's doubleheader, the winner of Sunday's game clinches the series.
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