Alabama defeats Niagara, loses to N.C. State at USA Baseball-Irish Classic

CARY, N.C. -- North Carolina State scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly and held on to defeat Alabama 2-1 in the nightcap of the USA Baseball-Irish Classic.

Wolfpack pitchers limited Alabama to just five hits in the game.

Alabama's lone run came on an RBI single by Cody Henry in the fourth inning. That gave Alabama a 1-0 lead. N.C. State scored a single run in the sixth to tie the game.

Dylan Duarte (2-0) gave up one run on one hit in relief and took the loss. Evan Brabrand picked up the win in relief.

In Game 1, Chandler Avant went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs to lead Alabama to an 8-4 win over Niagara (2-10).

Hunter Webb went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. Daniel Cucjen also went 2-for-4 for the Tide. Cody Vance and Sam Finnerty each drove in a run.

Mike Oczypok (2-0) allowed one run on three hits over five innings to pick up the win.

Daniel Procopio (0-1) allowed four runs on one hit and five walks and took the loss.

Alabama (9-2) plays Brown today at noon.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 7:58 PM with the headline "Alabama defeats Niagara, loses to N.C. State at USA Baseball-Irish Classic ."