CHARLOTTE — NC State baseball (36-20) used three home runs in the first inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead and not look back as it defeated Pittsburgh (29-27) 8-3 on Saturday in the ACC Championship semifinal at Truist Field.
With the victory, the Wolfpack will play in its second-straight title game Sunday as it will look for its first tournament crown since 1992. NC State will meet eighth-seeded North Carolina Sunday in the ACC Championship final, with first pitch set for 12 p.m. at Truist Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
In the win, Tommy White hit his 27th home run of the season to break the NCAA freshman record. It was a record that stood for 32 years, as it was last held by Georgia Southern's Todd Greene in 1990.
NC State plated five runs in the first inning, highlighted by home runs courtesy of Devonte Brown, White and Dominic Pilolli to mark the 19th time the team has hit three or more home runs in a single game.
Brown led off the inning with his 15th of the season to right center, marking the sixth time he has done so to lead off the Pack's scoring efforts. White doubled the lead with a solo shot to right center and then an RBI groundout by J.T. Jarrett with runners in scoring position made it 3-0. In the next at-bat, Pilolli hit a towering two-run homer to right field, his ninth of the year, to extend the lead to 5-0.
The Panthers got on the board in the fourth inning with a two-run single to center field by Brock Franks after a pair of walks and Wolfpack miscue loaded the bases, but the Pack responded with three runs on two hits in the bottom frame thanks to LuJames Groover III sac fly to center field and Noah Soles’ 2-RBI single to left center with the bases loaded to take an 8-2 lead.
Canaan Silver had an outstanding performance on the mound, not allowing an earned run to score in 5.2 innings while tallying seven strikeouts to secure his eighth win of the season.
Pitt's Ron Washington, Jr. rounded out the scoring for the game when belted a solo shot to left field in the seventh to cut into his team's deficit. The Panthers threatened in the ninth by drawing back-to-back walks, but Chris Villaman came in and struck out the side to shut the door.
Brown led the team with a 3-for-5 outing and a run batted in, while Soles and Pilolli both went 2-for-4 on the night with two runs batted in apiece.
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