South Raleigh News

The NC State baseball team's 2024 season concluded with a narrow 5-4 loss to Florida on Monday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

NC State (38-23) ended its season with its fourth appearance in the Men's College World Series. The Wolfpack has now finished its season in Omaha three times since 2013, all under head coach Elliott Avent.

Despite trimming Florida's early three-run lead to a single run twice, the Gators (35-29) maintained their advantage after Jac Caglianone's two-out, three-run homer in the second inning. Florida scored four of its five runs in the top of the second inning, turning an early 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead following Cade Kurland's sacrifice fly and Caglianone's home run.

Alec Makarewicz responded with a two-run homer in the third inning for NC State, reducing the deficit to 4-3. This marked Makarewicz's 24th home run of the year, tying him for fourth place in program history for single-season home runs.

Wolfpack redshirt senior pitcher Logan Whitaker delivered an impressive performance in his final career appearance, pitching seven innings of relief from the third inning onward. Whitaker set a career-high with ten strikeouts and allowed just two hits and one run over those seven innings. He threw 104 pitches and faced the minimum number of batters in three of his seven innings on the mound.

Florida left fielder Tyler Shelnut extended UF's lead to 5-3 with a solo homer to left field in the fifth inning. The Wolfpack responded when Garrett Pennington and Brandon Butterworth hit consecutive doubles to make it 5-4. Pennington opened the bottom of the fifth with his 27th double of the season, tying him for second place in Wolfpack single-season history. Butterworth then hit an opposite-field double over right fielder Ashton Wilson to cut NC State’s deficit to one run.

Whitaker continued his strong performance by retiring Florida’s side in order during the sixth inning, aided by a diving catch from right fielder Noah Soles on a warning track fly ball.

Florida closer Brandon Neely secured his fifth save by retiring nine consecutive batters. Neely struck out six while allowing just one hit and one walk. The Wolfpack managed to put runners in scoring position during both the seventh and eighth innings but were unable to capitalize as Neely used strikeouts to end their scoring threats.

Butterworth and freshman Alex Sosa each recorded two hits for NC State, while Pennington led with three runs scored after reaching base twice via hit-by-pitch (HBP).

Makarewicz concluded his standout season at NC State by setting new records for total bases (195) and finishing second for RBIs (84) within a single season. His performance also included tying for fourth place with 25 doubles in single-season history. The third baseman homered in each of his final three games and five out of his last six games.

Left-handed starting pitcher Dominic Fritton (3-7) took the loss for NC State after allowing four runs over two innings. Florida’s Cade Fisher (4-3) earned the win by pitching four innings of relief following Caglianone’s start.

The Wolfpack closed their season strongly with a record of ten wins against five losses over their final fifteen games, including six victories against top-ten opponents.