Friday, June 2
Columbia, S.C.
1 p.m.
NC State
36-19
5
vs
1
Campbell
44-14
1
2
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4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
NC State
1
0
2
0
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1
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10
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Campbell
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1
0
0
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1
10
3
Photo by: Greg Forwerck
#Pack9 Opens Columbia Regional With 5-1 Win Over No. 12 Campbell
6/2/2023 5:21:00 PM | Baseball
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Clutch pitching and power hitting propelled the NC State baseball team to a 5-1 victory over No. 12 Campbell to open the NCAA Columbia Regional at Founders Park.
NC State (36-19) slugged three home runs and limited Campbell (44-14), the highest scoring offense in the country, to just one run. With the win, the Wolfpack advances in the winner's bracket to a Saturday night showdown at Founders Park. Second-seeded NC State will face the winner of host and top-seeded South Carolina and fourth-seeded Central Connecticut State at 6 p.m. on Saturday night.
LuJames Groover III put NC State in front for good just two batters into the game, crushing a solo home run to left field on a 3-1 count. NC State then extended its lead to 3-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third. Cannon Peebles doubled the lead to 2-0 with an RBI doble down the right-field line before Chase Nixon ripped a two-out RBI double to make it 3-0 Wolfpack.
Logan Whitaker, who made his first NCAA Tournament start, limited the Fighting Camels to just five hits over 4.1 scoreless innings. Whitaker stranded a pair of Campbell baserunners with strikeouts to end the bottom of the third and fourth innings. In his past three appearances for NC State, he's pitched 13.1 scoreless innings and allowed just six hits with 14 strikeouts.
Campbell pushed its first run across in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Grant Knipp. Justin Lawson then entered out of the NC State bullpen and stranded three Camels on base, striking out Campbell shortstop Bryce Arnold on three straight pitches.
Lawson (5-0) dominated in his NCAA Tournament debut, earning the victory after tossing 3.1 innings while allowing just one hit with four strikeouts. The right-hander has limited opposing batters to just three hits with 10 strikeouts over his past two relief appearances, tossing 6.2 combined innings.
NC State answered Campbell's score in the sixth on the first pitch of the seventh when Groover III smacked his second homer of the game. Groover III's solo shot made it 4-1 Wolfpack and marked his third multi-homer game of his career.
Trevor Candelaria capped off his 4-for-4 day at the plate with a solo home run of his own in the eighth, extending the Pack's lead to 5-1. Candelaria's solo shot marked the Pack's 14th game this season with three or more home runs in a single contest. The four-hit contest marked the second of Candelaria's collegiate career and first in a Wolfpack uniform.
NC State improved to 17-16 in NCAA Tournament openers with the win and 7-6 overall against teams from North Carolina. The Wolfpack is now 8-2 in its past 10 NCAA Tournament games.
#Pack9 | @NCStateBaseball
NC State (36-19) slugged three home runs and limited Campbell (44-14), the highest scoring offense in the country, to just one run. With the win, the Wolfpack advances in the winner's bracket to a Saturday night showdown at Founders Park. Second-seeded NC State will face the winner of host and top-seeded South Carolina and fourth-seeded Central Connecticut State at 6 p.m. on Saturday night.
LuJames Groover III put NC State in front for good just two batters into the game, crushing a solo home run to left field on a 3-1 count. NC State then extended its lead to 3-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third. Cannon Peebles doubled the lead to 2-0 with an RBI doble down the right-field line before Chase Nixon ripped a two-out RBI double to make it 3-0 Wolfpack.
Logan Whitaker, who made his first NCAA Tournament start, limited the Fighting Camels to just five hits over 4.1 scoreless innings. Whitaker stranded a pair of Campbell baserunners with strikeouts to end the bottom of the third and fourth innings. In his past three appearances for NC State, he's pitched 13.1 scoreless innings and allowed just six hits with 14 strikeouts.
Campbell pushed its first run across in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Grant Knipp. Justin Lawson then entered out of the NC State bullpen and stranded three Camels on base, striking out Campbell shortstop Bryce Arnold on three straight pitches.
Lawson (5-0) dominated in his NCAA Tournament debut, earning the victory after tossing 3.1 innings while allowing just one hit with four strikeouts. The right-hander has limited opposing batters to just three hits with 10 strikeouts over his past two relief appearances, tossing 6.2 combined innings.
NC State answered Campbell's score in the sixth on the first pitch of the seventh when Groover III smacked his second homer of the game. Groover III's solo shot made it 4-1 Wolfpack and marked his third multi-homer game of his career.
Trevor Candelaria capped off his 4-for-4 day at the plate with a solo home run of his own in the eighth, extending the Pack's lead to 5-1. Candelaria's solo shot marked the Pack's 14th game this season with three or more home runs in a single contest. The four-hit contest marked the second of Candelaria's collegiate career and first in a Wolfpack uniform.
NC State improved to 17-16 in NCAA Tournament openers with the win and 7-6 overall against teams from North Carolina. The Wolfpack is now 8-2 in its past 10 NCAA Tournament games.
#Pack9 | @NCStateBaseball
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lawson, Justin (5-0)
L: KUEHLER, Cade (8-1)
Batting:
2B: Peebles, Cannon 1 ; Nixon, Chase 1 ; Candelaria, Trevor 1
HR: Groover III, LuJames 2 ; Candelaria, Trevor 1
RBI: Groover III, LuJames 2 ; Peebles, Cannon 1 ; Nixon, Chase 1 ; Candelaria, Trevor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Groover III, LuJames 3 ; Peebles, Cannon 1 ; Candelaria, Trevor 1
SB: Nolan, Parker 1
CS: Candelaria, Trevor 1
HBP: Cozart, Jacob 1 ; Green, Payton 1
Batting:
RBI: KNIPP, Grant 1
SF: KNIPP, Grant 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WELLER, Max 1
CS: BELBIN, Jarrod 1
HBP: BELBIN, Jarrod 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
cf/rf
AB
4
R
1
H
4
RBI
1
AB
5
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
rf/lf
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
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