CHARLOTTE— The No. 16 NC State baseball team secured its spot in the ACC Championship semifinals with a 3-2 win over Pitt, Thursday, May 27 at Truist Field in Charlotte.
As the top seed in Pool C, all the Wolfpack had to do to advance from the group was beat the winner of Tuesday’s Pitt-UNC game, and that is exactly what the Wolfpack did in front of a pro-Pack crowd in uptown Charlotte.
“This has been one of the more remarkable teams that I can remember in my tenure at NC State,” said NC State head coach Elliott Avent. “It was nice to see the crowd out here tonight.”
NC State can thank junior right-handed pitcher Reid Johnston (8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K) as he was a workhorse on the mound for his team. Johnston retired the last 13 batters he faced before being pulled after eight innings.
“Something clicked and I was feeling it for a while,” Johnston said. “I think it was my mindset that changed after that third or fourth inning.”
All five runs were scored in the first three innings of the game, with all of NC State’s runs coming in the second inning. The Wolfpack needed just four hits on the night to win the game.
The Panthers opened the scoring in the first inning on a two-out RBI double down the left field line from Ron Washington Jr.
NC State responded in the second inning with a little bit of two-out magic that resulted in three runs. With two runners on, junior second baseman J.T. Jarett (1-3, 2 RBI) ripped a triple down the left field line that cleared the bases. Jarett then scored on a wild pitch from Pitt starter Matt Gilbertson during the next at-bat.
“I’m just happy that we could get three runs there,” Jarrett said. “Then Reid [Johnston] started cruising and it felt pretty good.”
In the third inning, Pitt scratched a run across on an RBI-fielder’s choice from Washington Jr., who narrowly beat out a double-play attempt that would have ended the inning.
The starting pitchers for both teams cruised as the game went along, giving us a pitchers duel that looked unlikely in the early stages of the game.
Gilbertson faced the minimum over the final five innings of the game as Pitt’s ace went the full nine innings.
“I think it’s just great to win a game like this,” Avent said. “Their guy for Pitt, I just think he pitched his absolute tail off,”.
With the game on the line, junior left-handed pitcher Evan Justice (1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K) came into the game to close it out in the ninth. After yielding a leadoff walk, Justice retired the next three batters in order, including two strikeouts, to close the game.
The Wolfpack will be back in action for its final match of group play Friday, May 28 at 7 p.m. in Charlotte against UNC-Chapel Hill. Win or lose, the Wolfpack will play in the semifinals against Georgia Tech, Saturday, May 29 at 5 p.m. Follow @TechSports on twitter for coverage all weekend long.
