NC State gave up 10 runs in the first inning, eight of them unearned and was unable to recover in a 12-4 loss to UNC-Chapel Hill in the ACC Tournament at Louisville Slugger field Friday night. With the loss, NC State finishes 1-1 in Pool Play and was eliminated from the tournament. UNC advances to take on Miami in the semifinals Saturday at 5 p.m..
State (35-24, 17-15 ACC) and Carolina (48-11, 25-7 ACC) have played many classic games in the postseason over the years, including an 18-inning game in the 2013 ACC tournament. It was no surprise when the two teams learned they would be playing each other again this year. They came into the game with 22 previous ACC tournament matchups, and had split them evenly with 11 wins apiece. However, tonight was clearly not destined to be a classic.
Junior Brian Brown started and could not get out of the first inning. A lead-off home run from Brian Miller set the tone for the Tar Heels. Brown had a chance to escape the inning with only two runs in, but dropped a foul pop fly that would have been the third out. Ashton McGee lined a two-run single up the middle on the next pitch and the rout was on. Freshman Michael Bienlien relieved Brown and gave up two-run singles to Logan Warmoth and Brandon Riley before redshirt sophomore Austin Staley came in and mercifully ended the inning after the Pack allowed eight unearned runs.
Staley pitched three innings, gave up two runs and recorded two strikeouts. Senior Sean Adler pitched three and 1/3 shutout innings and recorded five strikeouts while lowering his ERA to 3.73. Redshirt junior Joe O’Donnell pitched the eighth inning and struck out two batters. Brown took the loss and his record is now 4-2.
The Pack got two back in the third inning when junior catcher Andy Cosgrove and junior right fielder Brock Deatherage started the inning with back to back doubles. Deatherage scored on a sacrifice fly from junior center fielder Josh McLain. McLain then led off the fifth inning with a solo home run. Junior shortstop Joe Dunand tripled to lead off the eighth and scored on a sac fly from sophomore left fielder Brett Kinneman.
JB Bukauskas, a likely top-10 pick in June’s MLB draft and the 2017 ACC pitcher of the year, got the win for the Heels. He pitched seven innings while giving up three runs on four hits to go along with five strikeouts. Bukauskas improved his record to 9-0.
The Wolfpack will learn where it will travel for the NCAA tournament on Monday afternoon. Regionals begin next Friday where the Pack, specifically the upperclassmen, will look to erase the painful endings of the last two years against TCU and Coastal Carolina.
