The baseball team traveled to No. 13 North Carolina State University last weekend, dropping two games but winning Friday’s series opener 11-6 in upset fashion for its first victory of 2026. The Leopards then dropped a 16-11 decision on Wednesday to La Salle University.
“I’m fairly certain this is the biggest win in our program’s history, maybe even Patriot League history,” head coach A.J. Miller said.
The Leopards (1–10 overall) exploded for five runs in Friday’s first inning against the Wolfpack (14–3 overall). Sophomore infielder Liam Ebbs sparked the rally with a single, and two walks brought sophomore infielder Boden Fernsler to the plate, who crushed a grand slam. Senior outfielder Bode Grieve followed with a solo shot to complete the inning.
“After that inning, our energy was up and NC State’s dropped,” Ebbs said. “That energy carried us through the rest of the game and kept our foot on the gas.”
Following a scoreless frame from the Pack, Ebbs added to the damage, drilling a solo homer to push the Leopards’ lead to 6–0. Grieve drew a walk at the top of the fourth, and senior utility player Ryan Ulisse delivered a two‑run homer to deep center for his first of the afternoon, extending the lead to 8-0.
NC State plated its first run in the fifth, then added another in the sixth to make it an 8-2 ballgame. Ebbs struck again in the seventh, however, launching his second home run of the game. Ulisse followed suit in the ninth with his second, a two‑run drive that extended the Leopards’ lead to 11-2 with the Wolfpack down to their final three outs.
The Wolfpack showed life with four ninth-inning runs, but the Maroon and White retired the side to polish off an 11-6 victory.
“It honestly felt unreal,” Ebbs said.
Junior right‑handed pitcher Tristan Helmick worked eight innings for the Leopards, giving up two runs and earning Patriot League Pitcher of the Week honors.
“Tristan pitched the game of his career so far,” Miller said. “He filled up the zone, pitched a contact and got us a swing‑and‑miss when we needed it.”
In Saturday’s rematch, NC State struck first with a pair of runs in the second to take a 2-0 lead. The score held until the sixth when the Wolfpack tacked on another.
Junior catcher Brandon Doubek hit a seventh-inning RBI single to put the Leopards on the board, but NC State tallied four in the bottom of the frame to put the game away, eventually winning 10-4.
“We knew we’d be facing pitchers who throw harder than what we see in the Patriot League, so we just wanted to limit strikeouts and put the ball in play,” Ebbs said.
Junior infielder Matt Collela opened the scoring in Sunday’s rubber match, slashing a third-inning RBI single, but the Wolfpack jumped ahead 2-1 after their turn at the plate.
Grieve answered in the fourth with a solo homer to tie the game. From there, the Wolfpack surged, putting up four in the fourth, four in the fifth and three in the sixth, before hitting a seventh-inning walk-off solo shot to seal the 14-4 mercy-rule win.
“The biggest difference for us is depth and resources, and for us, competing against a program like that, we just kind of ran out of what we needed,” Miller said.
Ebbs earned Patriot League Player of the Week for his .444 batting average across the series against NC State.
La Salle (9-7 overall) marked the Leopards’ last opponent before beginning conference play.
Lafayette plated two runs in the opening frame on Ebbs and Fernsler doubles, but the Explorers countered to take a 3-2 lead. Freshman infielder Will Dobil ripped a second-inning triple to jump back up 4–3, but the Explorers outscored the Leopards 12-2 across the next four innings to flip the game on its head. Despite a four-run seventh inning, the Leopards could not close the gap further, allowing La Salle to cruise to the victory.
The Leopards will kick off Patriot League competition on the road against Bucknell University (4-10 overall) this weekend.