RALEIGH, N.C. - UNCG baseball (3-1, 0-0) hangs 16 runs on No. 11 NC State (2-1, 0-0) on Tuesday, securing its third win of the season and a victory over its first of two current top-25 teams on schedule. The Spartans are the only team outside of the ACC in the past decade to score 16 runs at Doak Field, as the side combined for 14 hits on the evening. Five of those knocks were doubles, with Greg Hardison and Pres Cavenaugh each claiming a pair. Corey Rosier drove in four runs while batting in the leadoff spot with eight Spartans collecting RBI in all. 

"To be down seven against a very good club from the ACC on the road, I couldn't be prouder of the grit that our guys showed to battle back," said head coach Billy Godwin. "This is a great win for our club."

UNCG fell behind early, spotting the Wolfpack four runs before getting their first out of the contest. Relief righty Phillip Sanderson would take control however, giving up just two hits without a run against over 2.2 IP. The Spartans went full staff for the remainder of the game, using eight arms over the course of the day. 

The Spartans were in a hole after four, with the home team tacking on another three runs, but UNCG's bats would come alive in the fifth, batting around for the first time in the 2021 season.

With Pres Cavenaugh's double in the second standing as the only Spartan hit thus far, the visitors exploded for seven runs and five hits in the top half of inning number five. Josh Madole got the first man on with a single before Cavenaugh and catcher Dallas Callahan drew a pair of walks to load the bases. NC State's decision to go to second would give a fielder's choice RBI for Daniel Cerda, but a muffed throw on the play ensured an extra run crossed for the Spartans to make it 7-2. 

Corey Rosier brought in the pair in scoring position for his third and fourth RBI of the year, bringing his team within three on a standup triple to right field. The Chipola transfer belted a high pitch down the right field line to bring in his former JUCO teammate Cerda, along with Callahan.

Windish followed up that piece of hitting with his own display of power, driving a two-run bomb out to left, collecting his first homer of the 2021 season and putting the Spartans within a run. Greg Hardison notched his first hit of the night with a double in the following at bat, before Cavenaugh traded places with him on a double of his own. The Spartans batted through the order in the top half of the fifth, with 12 plate appearances in all, while Cavenaugh reached safely twice in the frame. 

The Wolfpack weren't going quietly however, coming right back with three of their own in the bottom half, and another two in the sixth. 

Once again the Spartans made a habit of hitting in bunches during the seventh, batting through the order for the second time on the night. Windish started the inning off with his second knock of the day, coming around on a groundout and a Spencer Smith RBI single. Smith's knock started a string of singles for UNCG as Madole and Cavenaugh followed up with a pair of their own to get back within three runs. 

The Spartans juiced the bases on a hit by pitch, before drawing back-to-back walks. Rosier came through with his second two-RBI knock of the day, this time a double down the right field line that put the visitors ahead by a score of 13-12. The scoring continued in the home half of the inning as NC State registered a sac fly to even things at a baker's dozen apiece. 

For the first time since the third, the Wolpack and Spartans played a scoreless inning of baseball in the eighth, as both sides entered the final frames with 13 runs. 

UNCG took advantage of a leadoff runner yet again in the ninth, this time with Daniel Cerda reaching first on a walk and stealing his way to third. He was driven in by an opposite field double from Hardison, who was replaced by pinch-runner Bradley Bott. Madole mimicked Hardison's effort with an opposite field knock of his own, sending a single to left that brought in Bott, with a throwing error driving in the Spartans' 16th and final run of the contest. 

Kross Robinson closed out the night with a one-hit ninth inning, securing a pair of swinging strikeouts for his second save of the season. In a game that produced 29 runs, pitching wasn't the highlight for either team overall, but the back end of the Spartan bullpen came through to secure a win. The combination of Jack Voigt, Brandon Stephens and Robinson finished the final 12 outs of the night, with the trio allowing just a single run and three hits, in what ended in a 16-13 victory for the visitors. 

"I think our bullpen is shaping up, and I said that if we can just get to Voigt, Stephens and Robinson at the end of the game, which we were able to do, we'd be safe," said Godwin. "I can't say that that's the way I drew it up, but we were able to do that and they emerged as leaders at the end of the game to get some quality outs."

>> The Spartans got the leadoff man on four times on the night. All of their runs came from three of those innings
>> Madole and Cavenaugh both delivered three hits, with two of the latter's coming as doubles. The pair each collected a walk as well, batting in the fifth and sixth spots respectively
>> The front end of the Spartan order of Rosier, Windish and Hardison combined for six hits on the night, including three doubles, a triple and a home run. Those three combined for seven of their team's 14 RBI.

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