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Virginia defeats third-seeded NC State behind strong pitching, defensive effort

DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) – Virginia ended the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship on a positive note.

The 10th-seeded Cavaliers entered Thursday’s game against third-seeded NC State knowing they had already been eliminated from title contention. That didn’t prevent them from delivering a solid all-around performance in a 4-2 win over the nationally top-five ranked Wolfpack.

Virginia (29-25) received solid pitching efforts from starter Derek Casey and reliever Bennett Sousa, played error-free in the field and pieced together just enough timely hitting to depart Durham Bulls Athletic Park victorious.

Despite the loss, NC State’s title hopes remain very much alive. The Wolfpack (40-15) faces sixth-seeded Florida State (40-17) in Friday night’s 7 p.m. Pool C game, with the winner advancing to face second-seeded Clemson or seventh-seeded Miami in Saturday’s 5 p.m. semifinal.

Casey (7-4) worked 7.2 innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs while walking one batter and striking out nine. The nine strikeouts pushed him above the century mark for the season to 106.

Casey left the game with two outs in the bottom of the eighth after walking Josh McLain on four pitches and yielding a double to Will Wilson to put Wolfpack runners on second and third. With Virginia clinging to a 3-2 lead, Sousa came on to face No. 4 hitter Brett Kinneman, whose 17 home runs are tied for second-most in the ACC this season. Sousa proved up to the task, striking out the NC State slugger on three pitches.

The Cavaliers picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Nate Eikhoff led off with an infield single and scored on Cayman Richardson’s one-out double. Sousa then set down the Cavaliers in order in the top of the ninth to secure his sixth save of the season.

The Wolfpack scored lone runs in the second and third innings to take an early lead. ACC Freshman of the Year Patrick Bailey sent his 11th home run of the season over the wall in right-center for the first score of the game, and Josh McLain’s liner that caromed off Casey’s leg for an infield single scored Shane Shepard from third base and made it 2-0.

Virginia tied it up in the bottom of the third, with Jake McCarthy’s RBI single and Andy Weber’s sacrifice fly accounting for the scoring. The Cavaliers went up 3-2 in the fourth when Richardson led off with a double, moved up on a groundout, and scored from third on a throwing error by Wolfpack second baseman J.T. Jarrett.

Weber and Richardson each finished 2-for-3 for three at the plate with an RBI for Virginia, while Bailey and Shepard each collected two hits for the Wolfpack.

David Harrison (1-3), the second of six NC State pitchers, took the hard-luck loss. Harrison worked 2.1 innings, allowing two hits and striking out two batters while walking none and yielding one unearned run.