#6 NC State splits doubleheader with Georgia Tech

NC State split their doubleheader with Georgia Tech yesterday, falling 13-4 in game one before taking game 2 5-2.

Georgia Tech got to Micheal Bienlien early. The sophomore righty had been nearly untouchable through his first 2 starts. He brought in a 0.68 ERA with 9 Ks in 13 innings but was unable to get out of the first inning.

Georgia Tech tagged Bienlien for 6 hits and 6 runs (3 earned) in 2/3 of an inning. Mathieu Gauthier came in a stopped the bleeding, but the damage was done. Harrison and Hooper followed Gauthier (who threw 4 innings of 1 run ball) and combined to give up another 6.

Offensively, the Pack was held down by Xzavion Curry who was lights out. Curry is GT’s ace and actually was the first true freshman to start an opening day (last season) since 1995. As a sophomore Curry is taking the next step. He came in and shut down the ACC’s most potent offense, going 7 electric innings, giving up just 1 run and striking out 11. State managed only 8 hits and didn’t have an extra-base hit all game.

In game 2, NC State got back on track. Johnny Piedmonte improved to 3-0 on the season with a 6 inning, 2 hit performance. He struck out 5 and only walked 2.

On offense, the Pack had a little hangover from game 1 early on, but Will Wilson got them started in the 5th with a fielder’s choice groundout to short that opened the scoring. State added 2 more that inning before DH Shane Shephard blasted a 2-run shot to right, giving State a 5 run lead.

Here’s a look at @ShaneShep2 2-run blast in the fifth to put the #Pack9 ahead 5-0 💯🔥 pic.twitter.com/mkDcSdqLI4

— #Pack9 ⚾ (@NCStateBaseball) March 24, 2018

That was all they’d need, winning 5-2 and advancing to 19-4 and 6-2 in the conference.

Note: Brett Kinneman, who was leading the NCAA in home runs and leading NC State in hitting early in the season, broke out his funk with a single, but is still just 1 for his last 16 plate appearances.