White hits 3 HRs, NC State tops Miami, advances to ACC semis

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Tommy White hit three home runs — the last of which broke N.C. State’s program record — and the Wolfpack beat sixth-ranked Miami 9-6 Wednesday night to advance to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.

No. 10 seed N.C. State (35-20) plays No. 11 seed Pittsburgh on Saturday for a berth in Sunday’s championship game.

White opened the scoring with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, tied the school record with his 25th homer of the season when he hit a two-run shot in the third before setting the mark with a two-run home run in the six that gave N.C. State a 9-5 lead. He finished 3-for-4 with a walk and five RBIs.

LuJames Groover III hit a two-out double to the right-field wall that drove in Noah Soles and Devonte Brown in the fourth inning and later scored on a throwing error to give the Wolfpack the lead for good at 6-4.

Miami starter Carson Palmquist (9-4), who had allowed just five earned runs in 29 1/3 innings over his previous five starts, allowed six hits and six runs — five earned — with four walks and three strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings.

Gaby Gutierrez and Dominic Pitelli opened the third inning with back-to-back walks, CJ Kayfus followed with a single to center that scored Gutierrez and Yohandy Morales crushed a three-run homer to give the No. 3 seed Hurricanes (39-17) a 4-1 lead.

Maxwell Romero Jr. hit a towering homer to right that cut Miami’s deficit to a run in the top of the fifth, but Soles answered with a solo shot in the bottom for N.C. State.

Groover went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs.

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