Tuesday, May 23
Durham, N.C.
7 p.m.
NC State
35-18
8
vs
7
Duke
35-20
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2
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5
6
7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
NC State
2
2
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
8
9
3
Duke
1
0
0
2
0
1
1
0
2
0
0
7
13
1
Photo by: Mollie Mitchell
#Pack9 Outlasts Duke 8-7 in Extra-Inning Thriller
5/24/2023 12:49:00 AM | Baseball
Wolfpack Faces Fourth-Seeded Miami on Thursday
DURHAM, N.C. – The NC State baseball team opened the 2023 ACC Baseball Championship on Tuesday night with an 8-7 victory in 11 innings over Duke at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Cannon Peebles drove in the game-winning run in the top of the 11th to secure the victory for NC State. The last time NC State went into extra innings in the ACC Tournament was on May 27, 2016, as it secured a two-run victory, defeating Georgia Tech 7-5. The last time the Pack notched a one-run win in extra innings in the ACC Tournament was on May 22, 2015, against Miami, defeating the Hurricanes 5-4 in 12 innings.
The Wolfpack improves to 11-3 all-time in the ACC Tournament against the Blue Devils and a perfect 4-0 in tournament openers against Duke.
NC State (35-18) struck first in the top of the first to take an early 2-0 lead. Noah Soles drew a four-pitch leadoff walk before LuJames Groover III launched a two-run home run over the left-field wall.
Duke (35-20) trimmed the lead in half in the bottom of the frame on an Alex Stone RBI double to left field to score Jay Beshears, who reached on a throwing error.
Kalae Harrison extended the Pack lead in the second, recording an RBI double to score Parker Nolan who drew a leadoff walk to start the frame. With his second hit in as many at bats, Groover III singled up the middle to score Harrison to put the Pack up 4-1.
For the third straight inning, the Pack offense put a crooked number on the board. Back-to-back walks drawn by Trevor Candelaria and Eli Serrano III put runners in scoring position before Nolan delivered an RBI single through the left side to score. Harrison continued the scoring with his second double of the night to score Serrano III. Soles pushed across the final run of the inning on an RBI groundout.
The Blue Devils responded with a pair of runs on two hits in the fourth to cut into the lead. Tyler Albright singled through the left side to plate two runs.
Duke trimmed the lead again in the sixth and seventh with one run in each frame. In the sixth, the Blue Devils posted one run on three hits, but Rio Britton induced a 6-3 groundout and a flyout to right field in the seventh to get out of the jam.
Dominic Fritton came into relief with one on in the eighth as Duke threatened, working the bases loaded before he recorded his first strikeout of the night to end the inning.
The Blue Devils tied the game in the ninth on a two-run shot to right field off the bat of MJ Metz to send the game to extras.
Peebles then delivered the go-ahead run in the eleventh on his single up the middle to go up 8-7. Soles singled to left and advanced to third on two wild pitches before Groover III was intentionally walked to put runners at the corners.
Logan Whitaker (5-3) earned the win, tossing two innings and striking out four in extra-inning relief. Whitaker struck out the final two batters faced to end the game.
Jimmy Romano (1-1) suffered the loss on the mound for Duke, surrendering one run on two hits
Groover III and Harrison paced the offense going 2-for-5 and 2-for-4 on the night, respectively.
For the fourth time, Harrison tied his career-high for doubles in a single game, recording two on the night. The last time he posted two doubles was earlier this season against UNCW on April 11.
UP NEXT
NC State continues ACC Baseball Tournament action against fourth-seeded Miami at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. First pitch on Thursday night is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcasted on ACC Network.
#Pack9 | @NCStateBaseball
Cannon Peebles drove in the game-winning run in the top of the 11th to secure the victory for NC State. The last time NC State went into extra innings in the ACC Tournament was on May 27, 2016, as it secured a two-run victory, defeating Georgia Tech 7-5. The last time the Pack notched a one-run win in extra innings in the ACC Tournament was on May 22, 2015, against Miami, defeating the Hurricanes 5-4 in 12 innings.
The Wolfpack improves to 11-3 all-time in the ACC Tournament against the Blue Devils and a perfect 4-0 in tournament openers against Duke.
NC State (35-18) struck first in the top of the first to take an early 2-0 lead. Noah Soles drew a four-pitch leadoff walk before LuJames Groover III launched a two-run home run over the left-field wall.
Duke (35-20) trimmed the lead in half in the bottom of the frame on an Alex Stone RBI double to left field to score Jay Beshears, who reached on a throwing error.
Kalae Harrison extended the Pack lead in the second, recording an RBI double to score Parker Nolan who drew a leadoff walk to start the frame. With his second hit in as many at bats, Groover III singled up the middle to score Harrison to put the Pack up 4-1.
For the third straight inning, the Pack offense put a crooked number on the board. Back-to-back walks drawn by Trevor Candelaria and Eli Serrano III put runners in scoring position before Nolan delivered an RBI single through the left side to score. Harrison continued the scoring with his second double of the night to score Serrano III. Soles pushed across the final run of the inning on an RBI groundout.
The Blue Devils responded with a pair of runs on two hits in the fourth to cut into the lead. Tyler Albright singled through the left side to plate two runs.
Duke trimmed the lead again in the sixth and seventh with one run in each frame. In the sixth, the Blue Devils posted one run on three hits, but Rio Britton induced a 6-3 groundout and a flyout to right field in the seventh to get out of the jam.
Dominic Fritton came into relief with one on in the eighth as Duke threatened, working the bases loaded before he recorded his first strikeout of the night to end the inning.
The Blue Devils tied the game in the ninth on a two-run shot to right field off the bat of MJ Metz to send the game to extras.
Peebles then delivered the go-ahead run in the eleventh on his single up the middle to go up 8-7. Soles singled to left and advanced to third on two wild pitches before Groover III was intentionally walked to put runners at the corners.
Logan Whitaker (5-3) earned the win, tossing two innings and striking out four in extra-inning relief. Whitaker struck out the final two batters faced to end the game.
Jimmy Romano (1-1) suffered the loss on the mound for Duke, surrendering one run on two hits
Groover III and Harrison paced the offense going 2-for-5 and 2-for-4 on the night, respectively.
For the fourth time, Harrison tied his career-high for doubles in a single game, recording two on the night. The last time he posted two doubles was earlier this season against UNCW on April 11.
UP NEXT
NC State continues ACC Baseball Tournament action against fourth-seeded Miami at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. First pitch on Thursday night is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcasted on ACC Network.
#Pack9 | @NCStateBaseball
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Whitaker, Logan (5-3)
L: Romano, Jimmy (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Harrison, Kalae 2
HR: Groover III, LuJames 1
RBI: Soles, Noah 1 ; Groover III, LuJames 3 ; Peebles, Cannon 1 ; Nolan, Parker 1 ; Harrison, Kalae 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Soles, Noah 2 ; Groover III, LuJames 1 ; Candelaria, Trevor 1 ; Serrano III, Eli 1 ; Nolan, Parker 2 ; Harrison, Kalae 1
SB: Candelaria, Trevor 1
Batting:
2B: Stone, Alex 1
HR: Metz, MJ 1
RBI: Stone, Alex 2 ; Metz, MJ 2 ; Albright, Tyler 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Mooney, Alex 1 ; Beshears, Jay 2 ; Stone, Alex 1 ; Solomon, Josh 1 ; Metz, MJ 2
HBP: Lux, Damon 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
6
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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