#1 NC State Holds Off Late Miami Comeback, 7-6, to Clinch Series

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No. 1 NC State baseball held off a late rally from the Miami Hurricanes Saturday night to earn a 7-6 win at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. With the win, the Wolfpack clinched its first ACC road series of the season and first in Coral Gables since 2007.

The Pack continues to lead the nation in wins with a 22-1 overall record and the squad also leads all ACC teams with a 7-1 mark in conference action. Miami falls to 15-8 and 3-5 in league play.

NC State’s 7-1 record through the first eight games of ACC play is the best for the program since 1996 and the best under head coach Elliott Avent.

Sophomore Reid Johnston started on the mound for NC State and threw 5.2 innings to record the win and remain unbeaten with a 3-0 clip. Dalton Feeney came in to get the final two outs of the game and nailed down his sixth save, which is tied for the ACC lead.

Quick Hits

– Miami struck first in the contest after a leadoff single from Jordan Lala, who stole second, advanced to third and scored on a groundout.

– Evan Edwards gave NC State a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning after hitting his team-leading seventh home run of the season.

– Jonny Butler and Patrick Bailey each singled prior to Edwards stepping to the plate and clubbing a 3-1 pitch over the wall in right center for a three-run blast.

– The Wolfpack tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-1.

– Following singles to center field by Will Wilson and Bailey, Tyler McDonough ripped a two-out base hit to left field to drive in Wilson.

– An errant throw by the catcher attempting to get McDonough at second allowed Bailey to score, pushing the lead to 5-1.

– Miami got a run back in the bottom half, but NC State answered with a run in the eighth and the ninth.

– An RBI double off the wall in left field by Brad Debo plated the sixth run of the game for the Wolfpack and Wilson hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth, his sixth of the season.

– The Hurricanes rallied with a pair of two-run homers in the bottom of ninth, one each from Michael Amditis and JP Gates, but Feeney induced a pair of groundouts to end the game.

Inside the Box Score

– Bailey, McDonough and Wilson each turned in multi-hit games for the Wolfpack.

– Bailey and Edwards both extended their reached base safely streaks to 23 games, as they have reached in every game this season.

– Edwards tallied three RBI and now leads the team with seven multi-RBI games on the year.

– Debo extended his hitting streak to seven games, which is now the longest of the season, as David Vazquez’s eight-game streak came to a close.

On the Mound

– Johnston was strong through 5.2 innings, allowing six hits with only one for extra bases. He struck out six batters and yielded just two earned runs.

– Nick Swiney relieved him and pitched 2.2 innings with four strikeouts.

– Feeney closed out the game with two-thirds of an inning.

On Deck

NC State and Miami will wrap up the series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Mark Light Field.

(Photo Credit: Eric Espada/Miami Athletics)