Wolfpack Pummels Panthers To Advance To ACC Title Game Versus Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No. 10 seed NC State (36-20) defeats No. 11 seed Pitt (29-27) Saturday evening at Truist Field in the ACC Baseball Championship semifinals, 8-3.

The Wolfpack enters Sunday afternoon as the first double-digit seed to play in the ACC Championship game, returning to the title match after losing last year’s game against Duke, 1-0. After defeating Notre Dame in the early-afternoon semifinal, North Carolina faces NC State for Sunday’s championship game.

Canaan Silver (8-1, 3.21 ERA) picked up the win after striking out seven Panthers while allowing just two unearned runs on five hits and two walks over 5-2/3 innings. Justin Lawson and Chris Villaman both followed Silver in relief with Lawson allowing one run over 2-1/3 innings while Villaman hurled a three-strikeout ninth inning to secure the Pack’s championship berth. The trio of pitchers held the Panthers to 14 runners left on base as opposed to seven for the Wolfpack.

Wasting no time in jumping ahead, State’s offense hung five runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Devonte Brown led off with his 15^th home run of the season. Two batters later, Tommy White clobbered his 27^th of the year, breaking the NCAA freshman home run record previously held by Georgia Southern’s Todd Greene. Josh Hood followed White’s bomb by drawing a walk with Noah Soles reaching on a double immediately after. J.T. Jarrett then grounded out to shortstop, driving Hood home. Dominic Pilolli concluded the scoring for the inning with a towering two-run home run to right field, well over 400 feet.

Brock Franks put the Panthers on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning, driving home two runners with a single to center field after Pitt loaded the bases with a pair of walks and an error. In the bottom half of the fourth, LuJames Groover, III answered with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to drive Payton Green home before Soles plated Jacob Cozart and Brown with a single to left-center. The final run of the game came in the top of the seventh inning with Ron Washington, Jr. blasted a solo home run over the wall in left field.

The Wolfpack will return to the home of the Charlotte Knights one final time this season, seeking its first ACC Championship since 1992. First pitch versus the Tar Heels is set for noon.