The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1536961
JULY/AUGUST 2025 ■ 43 Aziaha James scored 36 points, including 27 in the second half, to help the Wolfpack rally past No. 10 Duke on Feb. 3. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS ease, including a 14-4 run-rule victory to open the three-game set. In all, the Wolfpack outscored the Tigers 26-8 across the entire weekend, powered by sophomore right-hander Ryan Marohn's eight innings of one- run baseball on 112 pitches in the series finale. Sophomore closer Jacob Dudan slammed the door on Clemson with 3 strikeouts, throwing 12 pitches — all sliders — to tame the Tigers. "This is the best we've played all year for three games in a row," NC State skipper Elliott Avent said following the sweep. "It's hard to play three games in a row. It's not the physical thing, it's the mental thing. … There's not a lot of room for mistakes, and for three days in a row, we played as complete as we've played all year." Best Female Team Performance It seemed like NC State wasn't go- ing to be able to respond to then-No. 10 Duke's second-quarter sucker punch inside Reynolds Coliseum in early Feb- ruary. The Blue Devils erased the Wolf- pack's early lead, outscoring the home squad 26-8 in the second frame to seize the momentum. But instead of rolling over, the Pack answered with urgency. Propelled by se- nior guard Aziaha James' career-best 36 points, NC State stormed back to beat Duke, 89-83, in a thrilling ACC show- down. The Wolfpack scored 57 points in the final 20 minutes, powered by James' 27 in the second half. The second-half rally gave the Pack its seventh victory in what would turn out to be a nine-game winning streak, showing that the team was primed to be an ACC contender. It was one of four ranked wins that NC State earned in ACC play. The win over the Blue Devils appeared to build confidence, with NC State knocking off No. 1 Notre Dame in double overtime, 104-95, three weeks later. Best Male Individual Performance Junior outfielder Brayden Fraasman transferred to NC State ahead of the 2025 season after spending the first two years of his collegiate career at Lincoln Trail, a junior college in southeastern Illinois with a history of preparing tal- ented players for the next step in their careers. Fraasman showed he was more than ready to handle the ACC's best when second-ranked Clemson paid a visit to Raleigh. The Okeana, Ohio, native went 5 for 5 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI in the Wolf- pack's 14-4 run-rule romp in Game 1. It was the first time all season that Clem- son dropped a series opener. In Game 2, Fraasman had 3 more hits and scored a run in an 8-3 victory. And he had another hit and scored a run in Game 3, which NC State won, 4-1, to sweep the series against a Clemson team that had only lost seven games all season prior to its appearance at Doak Field. All told, Fraasman went 9 for 13 (.692) against the Tigers and was later named ACC Player of the Week. Best Female Individual Performance Angelina Napoleon knew she was go- ing to be tested at the NCAA Champi- onships. After all, that's what the ACC indoor and outdoor steeplechase cham- pion was looking for on college track and field's biggest stage. The sophomore did more than just compete. Napoleon challenged some of the best steeplechase runners in the world to finish third in 9:16.66, set- ting an NC State program record for the event. She comfortably passed her own previous record of 9:27.85, which she set at the ACC Championships just under a month prior. "I'm literally speechless," Napoleon told reporters. "I definitely had a lot of good and fun steeple races this season, but really only one where I truly had people on my heels and in front of me. To experience that now when everything is peaking, that was the whole goal to- day: to see what I could do. The work and the confidence paid off." Napoleon's time was the 13th-fastest in NCAA history. She was pushed by Alabama's Doris Lemngole, who won the event in 8:58.15. Lemngole became the first woman to finish in under nine minutes at the NCAA level. ■ 2024-25 YEAR IN REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR