By WRAL Sports, Associated Press

Noah Soles had two doubles and five RBIs in N.C. State’s 11-run second inning and the Wolfpack routed Georgia 18-1 on Saturday in Game 1 of the best-of-three Athens Super Regional.

Luke Nixon and Matt Heavner had back-to-back bunt singles in the top of the second inning, the former to drive in Brandon Butterworth and open the scoring and the latter to load the bases with nobody out. Soles followed with a three-RBI double down the line in right and Eli Serrano III hit the next pitch over the wall in right center. Butterworth added an RBI single before Nixon and Soles each hit two-RBI doubles to give No. 10 seed N.C. State (37-20) an 11-0 lead.

Sam Highfill (7-2) gave up a run on four hits and three walks over six innings to earn the win for the Wolfpack. Andrew Shaffner pitched three scoreless innings of no-hit relief for his first save of the season.

N.C. State can clinch a berth in the College World Series with a win Sunday in Game 2. The Wolfpack have made three appearances at the CWS, the most recent in 2021.

Corey Collins singled to right in the bottom of the fifth for seventh-seeded Georgia (42-16) to make it 13-1.

FINAL: NC State 18, Georgia 1: Shaffner gets another 1-2-3 inning and the Wolfpack complete a convincing win in Game 1 of the Athens Super Regional.

Game 2 is set for Sunday at 12 p.m. A potential Game 3 would be played on Monday. Another win would send the Wolfpack to their fourth College World Series and first since 2021.

NC State 18, Georgia 1 (top of 9th inning): Andrew Shaffner gets a 1-2-3 eighth inning and we head to the ninth with State holding a commanding lead.

Jacob Cozart and Alec Makarewicz hit back-to-back home runs to make it an 18-1 lead in the top of the ninth. The Wolfpack now have five home runs on the day and Cozart has two.

NC State 16, Georgia 1 (top of 7th inning): Garrett Pennington hit a solo home run to left field to extend the Wolfpack’s lead.

Every NC State batter in the starting lineup has at least one hit and at least one run scored. Seven players, including Pennington, have at least two hits. Five players, including Pennington, have at least two runs scored.

Alec Makarewicz doubled and scored on a wild pitch to make it 16-1.

NC State 14, Georgia 1 (top of 6th inning): Luke Nixon scored on a throwing error by Georgia, adding to the Wolfpack’s lead. Nixon singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a fly out.

NC State 13, Georgia 1 (bottom of 5th inning): Georgia finally scratched a run off NC State starting pitcher Sam Highfill on an RBI single by Corey Collins. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs after a walk to star Charlie Condon walked, but Highfill pitched out of the jam.

Through five innings, Highfill allowed three hits and one run. He walked three and struck out two.

NC State 13, Georgia 0 (top of 5th inning): Jacob Cozart’s two-out single to right field drove home Eli Serrano III, who doubled to start the inning.

NC State 12, Georgia 0 (top of 3rd inning): Jacob Cozart homered to right field, extending the Wolfpack edge. It was his 17th home run of the season.

NC State 11, Georgia 0 (top of 2nd inning): NC State jumped out to a big early lead against Georgia with a barrage of hits in the second inning.

Brandon Butterworth and Alex Sosa started the inning with singles. Luke Nixon scored Butterworth with a bunt single. Another bunt single from Matt Heavner loaded the bases.

Then Noah Soles delivered a bases-clearing double to extend the lead to 4-0.

Eli Serrarno III homered to bring in Soles and extend the lead to 6-0 with no outs.

With the bases loaded again, Butterworth delivered a long single to make it 7-0, chasing Georgia starter Kolten Smith, who failed to record an out in the second inning.

Nixon followed with a one-out, two-run double to extend the lead to 9-0. Soles then blooped a two-run double to left field, giving him five RBIs in the inning and pushing the lead to 11-0 before Georgia finally got out of the inning.

The record for runs in a single inning in a super regional is 13.

Series preview

The North Carolina State Wolfpack, seeking its first trip to the College World Series since 2021, visits Georgia for a best-of-three college baseball series this weekend in Athens.

NC State, the No. 10 overall national seed, swept through the Raleigh Regional, eliminating South Carolina and James Madison to reach the super regional round for the sixth time in school history.

It is NC State’s first trip to the super regionals since its College World Series appearance in 2021 ended when the team was sent home due to a COVID outbreak. The Wolfpack were set to play for a spot in the national championship series.

“You don’t get revenge in this world from me,” NC State coach Elliot Avent said. “I don’t play with revenge or retribution. I never tell our guys to play with a chip on their shoulder. That’s not my style.

“You can practice with a chip on your shoulder and you can have memories in your past to make you work harder, prepare harder and hopefully lead you to a good place. Every club I’ve been privileged to be a part of, when they get to this part of the season, the reward is seeing how these kids are and what it means to them. I’m happy for this group of kids.”

NC State (36-20) and No. 7 seed Georgia (42-15) open play Saturday. Georgia, which has not reached the College World Series since 2008, defeated Army, UNC Wilmington and Georgia Tech in the regional round.

“we’re pretty evenly matched,” Georgia first-year coach Wes Johnson said. “They’ve got some really good bats, they’ve been playing exceptionally well probably their last four or five weeks now. Their pitchers are similar to ours, their offense, their defense. You look at this one, we’re pretty evenly matched, in my opinion.”

NC State-Georgia is one of just two super regional match-ups pitting national seeds against each other (Kentucky-Oregon State) and one of two ACC-SEC series (Clemson-Florida).

There are eight Super Regionals this weekend, including one in Chapel Hill. The eight winners of the Super Regionals advance to the College World Series, slated for June 14-24 in Omaha, Neb.

Athens Super Regional Schedule

Saturday, June 8
Game 1 – No. 10 NC State vs. No. 7 Georgia | Noon | ESPNU

Sunday, June 9
Game 2 – No. 10 NC State vs. No. 7 Georgia | Noon | ESPNU

Monday, June 10 (If Necessary)
Game 3 – No. 10 NC State vs. No. 7 Georgia| Time TBD | TV TBD

Source: wralsportsfan.com