NC State baseball wins crucial opener vs. Campbell, 5-1
NC State baseball entered the NCAA Tournament with a 24-2 record when scoring first. On Thursday, Wolfpack third baseman LuJames “Gino” Groover III attributed getting that first run to being a confidence booster.
“I always felt when we scored first, it kind of lets it be known that, yeah, we could do this,” Groover noted. “It kind of takes the doubt out that people may have.”
So perhaps appropriately, Groover struck for NC State in the top of the first with a one-out solo homer to give the Pack a quick 1-0 lead off Campbell ace and projected high Major League Baseball draft pick Cade Kuehler.
And 27 Campbell outs later, NC State improved to 25-2 when scoring first after notching a 5-1 win over the higher-seeded Fighting Camels in the opener of the Columbia (S.C.) Regional.
Pack pitching stranded 13 Campbell runners on bases while holding college baseball’s highest-scoring lineup to matching a season-low with a single run.
NC State was able to take advantage of some Campbell miscues to get a pair of unearned runs in the third on RBI doubles from freshman designated hitter Cannon Peebles and sophomore left fielder Chase Nixon.
Groover’s throwing error on a bunt single leading off the bottom of the sixth by junior left fielder Max Weller led to Campbell’s lone run. Weller scored on a sacrifice fly from redshirt sophomore catcher Grant Knipp.
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Groover though atoned for his mistake with his second solo homer of the game, this time leading off the seventh. Senior outfielder Trevor Candelaria capped a 4-for-4 game at the plate with a solo blast in the eighth. Candelaria also doubled.
NC State pitching, aided by impressive catches in the outfield from Nixon and junior Noah Soles, made the runs hold up. Redshirt junior righty and starter Logan Whitaker started and went 4.1 innings, allowing five hits and two walks while fanning four. Junior lefty Rio Britton threw 1.1 innings and allowed four hits. The bases were loaded in the sixth with two outs when junior righthander Justin Lawson entered the game and put out the fire with a three-pitch strikeout.
Lawson would finish off the win, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four.
The victory moved NC State baseball into the winner’s bracket. The Pack faces the victor of top seed and host South Carolina against fourth-seeded Central Connecticut State. That game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
The winner meets NC State at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Campbell faces the loser at noon in an elimination game.
