N.C. State jumps on Pitt early
Panthers fall shy of ACC title game
Devonte Brown, Tommy White and Dominic Pilolli homered in a five-run first inning to spark N.C. State to an 8-3 victory over Pitt in the semifinals of the ACC tournament Saturday in Charlotte, N.C. The victory sends the 10th-seeded Wolfpack (36-20) to Sunday’s championship against North Carolina. Pitt (29-27), the 11th seed, must wait until Monday to see whether it earns an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament.
Brown homered on a 1-2 pitch to lead off the bottom of the first. White homered with one out to make it 2-0. Josh
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Hood walked and took third on a double by Noah Soles. J.T. Jarrett drove in Hood with a ground out, Pilolli followed with a two-run shot and the Wolfpack never looked back.
Pitt cut the deficit to 5-2 in the top of the fourth on Brock Franks’ two-out, two-run single. But N.C. State answered with three runs in its half of the inning. Lu James Groover III drove in the first one with a sacrifice fly, and a throwing error on a single by Soles led to Brown and Jacob Cozart scoring unearned runs.
Ron Washington Jr. hit a solo homer in the seventh for the Panthers’ final run.
Chris Villaman took the mound in the ninth for N.C. State and walked Bryce Hulett and Washington. But Villaman
bounced back to strike out Jac Anderson and CJ Funk on six pitches before fanning Franks to end it.
Seton Hill eliminated
Cal State Dominguez Hills rallied with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to beat Seton Hill, 9-6, at the Division II soft ball tournament in Denver. Sixth-seeded Seton Hill (42-12) took a 6-3 lead with five runs of its own in the top of the fourth. Morgan Toal delivered the big hit, a two-out double that scored Brooke Cleland and Bre Athey. The Toros (43-22), seeded eighth in the eightteam tournament, got three innings of one-hit shutout relief from Alyssa Olague. The Griffins’ Lauren Dellett, who relieved starter Morgan Ryan with one out in the third, was the loser.