NC State baseball stays alive in NCAA tournament with lopsided win Saturday

In their NCAA Tournament win against Central Connecticut State on Saturday, NC State took big swings – and they paid off.

Home runs by sophomore catcher Alex Sosa, sophomore infielder Luke Nixon, and freshman infielder Ryder Woodson led the Wolfpack to a 12-0 win in an Auburn Regional elimination game at Plainsman Park.

Having halted its four-game losing streak, N.C. State (34-20) faces another elimination game Sunday in the double-elimination regional. The Wolfpack will play either Auburn or Stetson at 3 p.m.

Woodson’s home run was the first of his collegiate career. The freshman also had a double, driving in three runs on the day.

Coming into the game against Central Connecticut, Nixon had one hit in his last 24 appearances at the plate and was 0-for 7 during the Auburn Regional. But Nixon drove in a team-best four runs against Central Connecticut State, including a three-run home run to close the scoring in the ninth inning.

Josh Hogue joined Sosa and Woodson by collecting two hits each for the Wolfpack.

After using eight pitchers during Friday’s 11-2 loss to Stetson, NC State benefited from exceptional work from Ryan Marohn against Central Connecticut State. In eight shutout innings, Marohn struck out 10, his most strikeouts in an outing since March 9. He stayed steady throughout, allowing just six hits while not walking a batter. He struck out two in the first inning and closed his outing with two more strikeouts in the eighth.

“Now that everything is elimination, it’s win or go home, we’re gonna play to the best of our ability. We’re going to go out there and play hard,” Marohn said.

“Obviously, one of the reasons we’re sitting here now with a win is the guy to my left,” NC State coach Elliot Avent said, referring to Marohn. “He’s incredible; he’s the enforcer on our ball club. A lot of guys work hard, but he does it all the right way. A lot of toughness, a lot of mental toughness, and it showed out there today.”

This story was originally published May 31, 2025 at 6:21 PM.