NC State senior Tarran Senay drove in five runs, including three on a home run blast, to lead the Wolfpack by William & Mary 9-2 to win the NCAA sub-regional championship.
The Pack put up three runs in the first, 6th and 8th innings to cruise to the regional-clinching victory.
In three games this weekend, NC State allowed just three runs, the fewest the Pack has ever allowed in 26 NCAA Regional appearances. Sunday’s win was the Wolfpack’s 47th of the season, which ranks as the fourth most in school history. State will need to advance to Omaha to match the program record of 49, set in 1993.
For the second year in a row, Senay had a homer and five RBIs in the title game, finishing 2-for-5 with a run scored. All-Region performer Jake Fincher went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI to improve to 59-for-61 on reaching base at least once in games this season. Logan Ratledge went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for his second three-hit outing against the Tribe to make the All-Region team at second base. Trea Turner, Grant Clyde, and Carlos Rodon joined Senay, Fincher, and Ratledge on the All-Region team.
Wolfpack starter Brad Stone (3-2) secured the win with 5 1/3 shutout innings, holding the Tribe to four hits while striking out three. Ryan Wilkins worked the next two innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits. Grant Sasser claimed his eighth save of the year with a perfect 1 2/3 innings to slam the door.
NC State’s pitching staff did not allow a walk for the second game in a row. Over the weekend, Pack pitchers struck out 25 batters while issuing just two walks.
William & Mary starter Matt Wainman (4-4) took the loss on 5 1/3 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on 10 hits. Reliever John Sheehan pitched the final 2 2/3, surrendering three earned on four hits.
The Wolfpack took charge early as Turner and Fincher led off the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back singles to center field. After a fielder’s choice by Brett Austin put runners on the corners, Senay crushed his three-run homer over the right field wall to give the Pack an early 3-0 lead. The home run was his eighth of the season and second of the regional.
Both teams went scoreless for the next four and a half innings, before NC State manufactured three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bryan Adametz and Matt Bergquist hit back-to-back singles with one out to put runners on the corners, before second baseman Logan Ratledge reached on a perfectly executed safety squeeze down the first base line.
With runners on first and second, Fincher legged out an infield single to third base, scoring Bergquist and a hustling Ratledge after an interference ruling on the Tribe’s pitcher, who blocked the third base line to give the Wolfpack a 6-0 advantage.
The Tribe would cut the deficit to five in the top of the seventh on a pair of back-to-back doubles with one out. In the eighth, three Wolfpack fielding errors extended the inning to allow Ryan Brown to score when Ryan Lindemuth reached on a fielder’s choice.
State stretched the lead to 9-2 in the bottom half, started by Ratledge’s two-out double down the left field line and into the visiting bullpen. An intentional walk put Turner aboard, and a double steal put both runners in scoring position. Fincher reached on a dropped third strike to score Ratledge and push Turner to third, then advanced to second on another wild pitch. Austin walked to load the bases, setting up Senay’s two-RBI single to left center.
NC State returns to action next weekend for the Super Regionals against the winner of the Eugene Regional.