Friday, February 24
Raleigh, N.C.
3 p.m.
NC State
5-0
11
vs
4
Belmont
2-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Belmont
1
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
4
7
2
NC State
2
0
4
1
0
0
0
4
X
11
9
1
#Pack9 Moves to 5-0 Behind Series Opening Win Over Belmont
2/24/2023 6:40:00 PM | Baseball
RALEIGH – The No. 21 NC State baseball team improved to a perfect 5-0 on Friday afternoon at Doak Field at Dail Park with a commanding 11-4 win over Belmont.
The Bruins struck first in the opening inning with a sacrifice fly from Belmont's Brodey Heaton, scoring Sam Kirkpatrick to go ahead 1-0. The Pack answered in the bottom of the first behind back-to-back hits to open its first team at-bat. Trevor Candelaria ripped a single to left field on the opening pitch before LuJames Groover III belted his first home run of the season, making it 2-1 Wolfpack after the first.
After Belmont (2-4) tied the game in the top of the third, the Wolfpack loaded the bases in the bottom of the third with two outs. Kalae Harrison singled on the first pitch of the frame before Candelaria drew a walk. After a pair of fly-ball outs, Will Marcy drew a two-out walk to extend the inning, bringing shortstop Payton Green to the plate. Green fell behind in the count 0-2 before working the count full at 3-2.
On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Green blasted a grand slam over the wall in left field, breaking the tie and putting the Pack ahead for good at 6-2. Green's grand slam was NC State's first since Josh Hood blasted a grand slam against East Carolina on April 26.
Belmont plated a pair in the top of the fourth to make it 6-4. Baker Nelson entered on the mound and recorded the final two outs of the frame. Nelson then posted back-to-back scoreless innings, finishing with 2.2 innings pitched while allowing just a hit and a walk with one strikeout.
Groover III continued his stellar day at the plate in the bottom of the fourth, hitting a triple off the wall in center field. An error on the centerfielder allowed him to race all the way home, making it 7-4 Pack in the fourth.
Sam Highfill made his home return to the mound, tossing two hitless innings in the seventh and eighth frames with a strikeout. Highfill needed just 21 pitches to record six crucial outs with a three-run lead.
NC State scored its final four runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth. After Parker Nolan reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, Noah Soles doubled into the gap in left-center to bring Nolan all the way home, extending the lead to 8-4. Later in the inning, Candelaria doubled down the left-field line to drive home two more runs for a 10-4 Wolfpack lead. Groover III drove in the Pack's final run of the night with an RBI single to left field, finishing the game just a double shy of the cycle.
Carson Kelly recorded the final three outs for the Wolfpack on the mound, finishing the game with a three-pitch strikeout.
Green and Groover III paced the Wolfpack with four RBI apiece. Candelaria, Green and Groover III also each finished with multi-hit performances.
UP NEXT
The Wolfpack looks to earn its second straight series victory in Saturday's matchup against the Bruins. First pitch for Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m. and will be broadcasted live on ACC Network Extra.
#Pack9 | @NCStateBaseball
The Bruins struck first in the opening inning with a sacrifice fly from Belmont's Brodey Heaton, scoring Sam Kirkpatrick to go ahead 1-0. The Pack answered in the bottom of the first behind back-to-back hits to open its first team at-bat. Trevor Candelaria ripped a single to left field on the opening pitch before LuJames Groover III belted his first home run of the season, making it 2-1 Wolfpack after the first.
After Belmont (2-4) tied the game in the top of the third, the Wolfpack loaded the bases in the bottom of the third with two outs. Kalae Harrison singled on the first pitch of the frame before Candelaria drew a walk. After a pair of fly-ball outs, Will Marcy drew a two-out walk to extend the inning, bringing shortstop Payton Green to the plate. Green fell behind in the count 0-2 before working the count full at 3-2.
On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Green blasted a grand slam over the wall in left field, breaking the tie and putting the Pack ahead for good at 6-2. Green's grand slam was NC State's first since Josh Hood blasted a grand slam against East Carolina on April 26.
Belmont plated a pair in the top of the fourth to make it 6-4. Baker Nelson entered on the mound and recorded the final two outs of the frame. Nelson then posted back-to-back scoreless innings, finishing with 2.2 innings pitched while allowing just a hit and a walk with one strikeout.
Groover III continued his stellar day at the plate in the bottom of the fourth, hitting a triple off the wall in center field. An error on the centerfielder allowed him to race all the way home, making it 7-4 Pack in the fourth.
Sam Highfill made his home return to the mound, tossing two hitless innings in the seventh and eighth frames with a strikeout. Highfill needed just 21 pitches to record six crucial outs with a three-run lead.
NC State scored its final four runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth. After Parker Nolan reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, Noah Soles doubled into the gap in left-center to bring Nolan all the way home, extending the lead to 8-4. Later in the inning, Candelaria doubled down the left-field line to drive home two more runs for a 10-4 Wolfpack lead. Groover III drove in the Pack's final run of the night with an RBI single to left field, finishing the game just a double shy of the cycle.
Carson Kelly recorded the final three outs for the Wolfpack on the mound, finishing the game with a three-pitch strikeout.
Green and Groover III paced the Wolfpack with four RBI apiece. Candelaria, Green and Groover III also each finished with multi-hit performances.
UP NEXT
The Wolfpack looks to earn its second straight series victory in Saturday's matchup against the Bruins. First pitch for Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m. and will be broadcasted live on ACC Network Extra.
#Pack9 | @NCStateBaseball
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nelson, Baker (3-0)
L: BEAN, Andy (0-2)
Batting:
2B: KIRKPATRICK, Sam 1 ; BARTON, Blake 1
RBI: HEATON, Brodey 2 ; SLAUGHTER, Sam 1
SF: HEATON, Brodey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KIRKPATRICK, Sam 2 ; BLESSINGER, Max 1 ; BARTON, Blake 1
CS: HARDEN, Ethan 1
Batting:
2B: Candelaria, Trevor 1 ; Soles, Noah 1
3B: Groover III, LuJames 1
HR: Groover III, LuJames 1 ; Green, Payton 1
RBI: Candelaria, Trevor 2 ; Groover III, LuJames 4 ; Green, Payton 4 ; Soles, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Candelaria, Trevor 3 ; Groover III, LuJames 2 ; Marcy, Will 1 ; Green, Payton 1 ; Nolan, Parker 1 ; Soles, Noah 1 ; Harrison, Kalae 2
CS: Trice, Carter 1
HBP: Trice, Carter 1 ; Soles, Noah 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
4
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP/INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
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