NC State rolls past Miami, 7-1

DURHAM — NC State broke the scoring open in its second game of the ACC Baseball Championship, despite not hitting a ball out of the infield in the top of the second inning.

The four-run frame paved the way for a 7-1 victory over Miami, setting up a rivalry contest with North Carolina at 7 p.m. Saturday, where the winner will advance to the ACC Championship game.

"I thought for the second game in a row, we played extremely well, but I guess I could have said that for the last 30 games," coach Elliott Avent said. "We've played really good baseball; at times, better than others. The last 30 games, we've played good, and then these last two games, I thought we played really well."

After a walk and pair of bunts, the Wolfpack pushed across their first run with two outs in the second, thanks to an infield single from designated hitter Jake Armstrong. The Pack then made it 2-0 on a fielding error by Miami before All-American shortstop Trea Turner knocked in two more on a hit that never left the infield.

"You get lucky sometimes," Turner admitted. "Sometimes, hits fall your way and you end up with a lot of infield singles, I know I had one or two today. I think our speed puts a lot of pressure on the other team and I'd say we got lucky, but we do get some credit because of our speed."

The four runs were all that State would need, thanks to five shutout innings from its bullpen.

The Hurricanes got on the board with their only run of the game in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to a bases loaded walk that scored second baseman Alex Hernandez, who also made some stellar plays on defense. It was the only time that Pack starting pitcher Logan Jernigan was touched up - he threw more than four innings and allowed just four hits.

NC State extended their lead with a run in both the top of the fifth and sixth innings. A pair of walks led to an RBI single from Adametz and then Logan Ratledge scored the following inning on a sacrifice fly from catcher Brett Autin.

The Pack tacked on their final run in the top of the ninth inning with an RBI double from Adametz that scored center fielder Brett Williams.

After Jernigan gave way to the bullpen, Andrew Woeck, who was credited with the victory, pitched three shutout innings while allowing just one baserunner via a walk. Ryan Wilkins and Chris Overman both pitched an inning without allowing any runs to cross the plate.

Adametz and Turner led the way for NC State on offense with three hits and two RBI apiece, and Adametz extended the ACC's longest active hitting streak to 14 games. Ratledge reached base at every plate appearance and scored twice, while third baseman Grant Clyde also crossed the plate twice.

The winner of NC State vs. UNC will advance to the ACC Championship contest, which will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Durham Bulls' Athletic Park.

"It will be a great game tomorrow night," Avent said. "Two great ball clubs, it will be a packed house. We're just trying to keep going and get better every day."