CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tenth-seeded NC State (35-20, 14-15 ACC) powered past three-seed Miami (39-18, 20-10 ACC) Wednesday evening at Truist Field in the ACC Baseball Championship Tournament, 9-6.
Tommy White led the way offensively against the Hurricanes with three home runs, putting him at 26 for the season which breaks the Wolfpack’s school record for most home runs in a season after Tracy Woodson and Turtle Zaun hit 25 home runs in 1984 and 1988, respectively. He also tied the NCAA freshman home run record with former Georgia Southern catcher Todd Greene who reached that total in 1990.
With the win, State finds itself in the tournament semifinals for the third straight year. However, it marks the first time the Pack has won its pool outright in the current format with NC State losing to Florida State in 2019 and North Carolina in 2021 after already securing its semifinal spot with wins over Wake Forest and Pitt, respectively.
Logan Whitaker got the call to start on the mound but exited the game after yielding four runs in 2-1/3 innings of work. Matt Willadsen (5-4, 4.07 ERA) relieved Whitaker and earned the win with six innings in which he struck out eight Miami batters while allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. Chris Villaman recorded the final two outs, both on strikes, to secure his 11th save of the year.
White wasted little time putting NC State ahead, homering with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. Miami would answer with four runs in the top of the third thanks to an RBI single by C.J. Kayfus and a three-run home run by Yohandy Morales. However, White would respond in the home half of the same inning with a two-run bomb which also drove LuJames Groover, III home after he reached on a one-out double.
The Pack retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with three more runs off of Carson Palmquist (9-4, 3.09 ERA). Noah Soles led off with a single. Two batters later, Devonte Brown reached with a base hit of his own. Groover doubled both runners home to chase Palmquist out of the game. After White was intentionally walked, Josh Hood singled with Groover coming home thanks to a Hurricane error.
Maxwell Romero, Jr. trimmed the Pack’s lead to one run with a towering home run to right field in the top of the fifth. Soles answered in the bottom half with his fourth homer of the season. One inning later, Groover led off with a single before coming home on White’s third bomb of the game. The score would hold until Miami scored the final run of the game on an RBI single in the top of the seventh by Morales.
The Wolfpack will advance out of Pool C to face Pitt on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Panthers opened the tournament Tuesday with a 12-6 win over Georgia Tech before getting the walk-off victory over Louisville Wednesday afternoon.
I wish the network had multiple channels like most of the other conferences do. That way they could show the tournament and that 532nd showing of UNC vs Pitt 1989 basketball game at the same time.GrayWolf98 said:
I love that this wasnt televised on ACC Network. What a joke.
Not sure that more of a bad thing is a better thing. Just need some brains instead of fanboys making decisions. Fix that, then think about more channels.magpie said:I wish the network had multiple channels like most of the other conferences do. That way they could show the tournament and that 532nd showing of UNC vs Pitt 1989 basketball game at the same time.GrayWolf98 said:
I love that this wasnt televised on ACC Network. What a joke.
That third AB would have created a storm of viewers tuning in if it was ACCN. Their loss, idiots. lolGrayWolf98 said:
I love that this wasnt televised on ACC Network. What a joke.
More postseason Wolfpack magic is what I need. Is it possible to have a better freshman year than Tommy Tanks? Can he reach 30!
