NC State Baseball Powers Past Army, Advances To NCAA Regional Final

RALEIGH – Thanks to Evan Edwards’s multi-homer outing and a 2-RBI home run by Will Wilson, the ninth-ranked NC State baseball team powered past Army, 11-1, on Sunday afternoon to advance to the NCAA Raleigh Regional Final at Doak Field at Dail Park.

The Wolfpack improves to 42-17 on the season and the Black Knights end their season with a 37-24 record. The squad will face second-seeded Auburn this evening in the final.

Quick Hits
-The Pack struck first when Wilson’s sacrifice fly to center field plated Josh McLain in the first inning of the contest. McLain led off the game with a hit-by-pitch, and a stolen base followed by a groundout to Army’s first baseman moved him to third.
-Edwards broke up the no-hitter by Army’s Matt Ball in the sixth when he belted a two-run homer to left field, scoring Wilson after he reached on an error. It was his 14th homer of the season to give the Pack a 3-0 lead.
-In the bottom frame Army scored its lone run on a passed ball. Drake Titus and John McKenna led off with a walk and outfield single, and pulled off a double steal of second and third to start the threat.
-The Pack added five runs on as many hits in the seventh to take an 8-1 lead. McLain drove in the first run on a stand-up triple to right center, Brett Kinneman and Brock Deatherage followed with RBI singles to right center and Stephen Pitarra ripped a 2-RBI double off the right center wall to score the final two runs of the side.
-Wilson blasted his 15th home run of the year in the eighth, a two-run shot to left field, to give NCSU a nine-run advantage.
-Edwards started the ninth inning by going yard for the second time in the game. He turned in his fourth multi-homer game of the season and first since March 25th against Georgia Tech.

On The Mound
-Starting pitcher Johnny Piedmonte and Kent Klyman combined to take a no-hitter in the sixth.
-Due to injury Klyman relieved Piedmonte in the fifth and threw 2.1 innings. He struck out four, while giving up two hits and an unearned run to pick up the win and improve to 8-2 on the year.
-Nolan Clenney replaced Klyman on the mound in the seventh, and threw an effective 1.2 innings to close out the game as he only surrendered a base hit.

Inside The Box Score
-Three players turned in multi-hit performances, led Deatherage’s 3-for-4 outing.
-McClain and Bailey also tallied a pair of hits apiece.

Up Next
NC State will face Auburn tonight at 7:00 at Doak Field at Dail Park in the NCAA Raleigh Regional Final.