Relive the Classics from 2001:
NCSU vs. Baylor
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Although the Pack managed to snag a victory in the season opener against West Virginia, six runs is not going to win many softball games. However,
when you're only giving up four runs a game, that takes a lot of pressure off
the offense. Could the Wolfpack find enough offense in game
number two to pull out another victory? It would probably take several innings to answer this question. The Wolfpack started off at the plate and things got off to a pretty good start as Greg Marlow lead off with a hit. Matt
McMahan followed with a hit of his own. Then Bruce Baldwin had a hit,
followed by an Ed Taylor hit and a Chuck Monroe hit. And as Casey Kasem is so fond of saying, the hits just kept on coming. Heather Wulfert got a hit, followed by hits from Matt Kalemba, Jennifer Grieves, Bethany Smith, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Goofy too. Everybody was hitting. When the hit parade was finally over, the Wolfpack was holding a 15-0 lead after only a half inning of play.
It was originally thought that it might take a few innings before the offense came around. Well, it took exactly one. After wearing the Baylor Bear defense down, now the Wolfpack defense had to see what it could do. The NC State defense was in the field for about one minute and thirty seconds. (I rounded that. It was probably closer to one minute and twenty-six point five seconds) Bruce Baldwin did his best to save the arm strength taking only five pitches to put the Bears down in order. How's that for a great start?
The Baylor defense made some adjustments in the second inning, bringing in a new pitcher, and putting a little more speed in the outfield. The defensive adjustments didn't even phase the Wolfpack batters as they continued to use that complex offensive philosophy that Coach Taylor has worked so hard to ingrain in his player's minds......"Hit the ball where they ain't." That's just what the Wolfpack did. Ryan Gatling got a single to get things going. Then Mike Prather got a single. Next, Josh Elder singled, followed by Paula Griffin, Claire Hackney, Jeffery Taylor, Isaac Bumgardner, Craig Stevens, Alex Storey, Brian Brownewell, Buckwheat, Alfalfa, and Spanky all got hits. The inning finally came to a screeching halt when Humpty Dumpty had a great fall running to first. When the dust cleared, the Pack had a somewhat commanding 24 to 0 lead.
The defense hit the field once again with Alex Storey brought in at pitcher to nail the game down. Storey didn't disappoint, as the Bears were once again held scoreless.
The rest of the game was pretty much the same and really isn't worthy of description. The Pack managed to hold on, squeezing out a 35 to 11 victory. Bruce Baldwin picked up his second victory of the season while Alex Storey pulled out his first save. Hey, softball saves are a lot different than baseball saves. No lead is safe in a softball game. OK, well maybe this one was. Although if you pitch over three innings, it still qualifies as a save even if the tying run doesn't make it to the on-deck circle.