Behind senior lefty Brian Brown’s seven scoreless innings and junior left fielder Brett Kinneman’s two home runs, the NC State baseball team shutout Furman 10-0 Friday afternoon at Doak Field.
The Wolfpack (5-1) benefitted from timely hitting and two errors by the Paladins (3-2) to take the opening game of the three-game series.
“I thought Brian was outstanding today,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “I thought he had command of everything. Like I said, that’s a good ball club he just shutout. We played well today.”
Brown tossed seven scoreless frames, giving up just three hits, no walks and striking out eight batters on his way to earning the win for the Wolfpack.
“My changeup is my go-to,” Brown said. “Throwing that for a strike keeps them off-balance and you can throw it in the dirt and they’ll chase, especially the second time through.”
NC State threatened in the fourth inning, loading the bases with one out. Freshman catcher Patrick Bailey started the inning by reaching base after Furman’s second baseman dropped a routine pop fly. Senior first baseman Shane Shepard walked and senior right fielder Brock Deatherage used his blazing speed to beat out a bunt back to the pitcher, loading the bases.
Sophomore Dillon Cooper got the first RBI of the game with a one-out sacrifice fly to center field. All three runners were able to tag up on the fly ball, moving runners to second and third and scoring Bailey from third base. Senior center fielder Josh McLain proceeded to hit his fourth double of the year and pick up two RBIs to cushion the lead to 3-0.
The Pack’s next opportunity came in the sixth inning when Deatherage walked to lead off the inning, then stole second and third to set up an another RBI opportunity for Cooper, who came through with a ground-ball base hit up the middle to put the Pack up 4-0.
NC State wasn’t done in the sixth. Freshman second baseman J.T. Jarrett, who started his first collegiate game Friday, beautifully executed a hit-and-run with a single into right field, allowing Cooper to move to third base.
“J.T. has been a little bit of a spark for us when he’s gone in a little bit,” Avent said. “So he got the start today. I thought he played well.”
With nobody nobody out in the inning, McLain knocked in Cooper with a single to right field. Cooper’s base hit would chase Furman’s starting pitcher Grant Schuermann from the game as Tyler Kimbrell came on to attempt to thwart the Wolfpack offense.
Kimbrell didn’t fare any better, immediately allowing a three-run home run to junior left fielder Brett Kinneman on a line drive to right field. The Pack scored five runs on five hits in the sixth frame to increase the lead 8-0.
“Kinneman is just a baseball player,” Avent said. “I always call him Mickey Mantle. I’ve called him Mickey Mantle since he’s been here. He reminds me of Mickey Mantle and he just plays the game very very hard. He loves to play the game. He plays exactly the right way, the way I think it ought to be played and he had a good day today.”
Kinneman would strike again with his second home run of the game in the seventh. This one was a two-run shot to center field. Kinneman went 3 for 5 with two home runs and five RBIs, bringing his RBI total to 14 on the season.
“As a team, I thought we struggled a but in the first three or four innings,” Kinneman said. “But we did a good job adjusting as the game went on and we started to put better at bats together and execute more.”
With the Pack up 10-0, sophomore righty Michael Bienlien replaced Brown in the eighth inning and struck out two batters.
Redshirt freshman left-hander Connor Centala tossed a clean ninth inning to give the Pack the 10-0 win.
“If we can play like this the rest of the year, we’ll be alright,” Avent said.
NC State will look to build on its outing today as the weekend series against Furman continues Saturday at 2 p.m. at Doak Field.
