#Pack9 Tops Louisiana Tech, Advances To NCAA Regional Final - NC State University Athletics - NC State Athletics

techsooper.blogspot.com RUSTON, La. – No. 16 NC State baseball (32-17) has earned its spot in the NCAA Ruston Regional final game thanks to an 8-3 win over No. 16 Louisiana Tech (41-19) on Saturday night at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park in Ruston, La.

This will be the Wolfpack's first regional final since 2018 as it will look to advance to its first NCAA Super Regional since 2013.

The Pack struck in the first inning off a pair of extra-base hits and never looked back. Austin Murr led off the game with a double to left center, and after he moved to third on a fly out Jonny Butler drove him in with a double down the right field line.

Butler tallied his second RBI of the night with his second hit of the game in the third inning, bringing home Tyler McDonough from second on a two-out infield single.

In the third, J.T. Jarrett delivered the third run of the game when he drove in Devonte Brown, who tallied the team's third double of the night two at-bats prior, with a long single to left field to make it 3-0 NC State.

NC State tacked on three more runs in the seventh to double its lead thanks to McDonough's one-out two-run double to left center and Butler's sac fly to right field, his team-leading third of the night, then added two in the eighth on Murr's two-out single to right field and a wild pitch.

Louisiana Tech made the attempted comeback in the eighth, scoring three runs on homers by Steele Netterville and Cole McConnell, then put a runner on in the ninth via a one-out error but its rally fell short.

Starting pitcher Sam Highfill (7-2) tossed 5.1 shutout innings while scattering eight hits with four strikeouts, then gave way to Evan Justice who threw the final 3.2 innings to pick up his team-leading 10th save of the season.

Five Wolfpack players turned in multi-hit outings, as Murr (4-for-5), McDonough (2-for-5), Butler (2-for-4), Terrell Tatum (2-for-4) and Brown (2-for-4) combined for 12 of the team's 14 hits in the game.

NC State will face the winner of the Louisiana Tech vs. Alabama game Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and there will be a free audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the TuneIn App.

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