NC State picked up a win over Virginia in the series-opener on Friday night, and Ethan Ogburn was a big reason why. Ogburn allowed just four hits in eight innings of work, striking out seven in the process.
"Ethan was outstanding," said NC State head coach Elliott Avent. "It was hard to take him out, but he had given us enough for the night. He was commanding four pitches, hitting every spot. He was rolling, and I think he was shocked to come out. I told him, if he felt good, talk to Tom [Holliday], and he said `No, I trust him.'"
Chris Overman made things interesting in the ninth inning by loading the bases without recording an out, but then he was like "lol j/k bros" and struck out the next three Virginia batters to end the game. The win moved State to 7-3 in conference play, two games behind Florida State in the Atlantic Division. I don't think we'll have to sweat this team making the ACC Tournament this season.
What we can start thinking about is positioning for hosting an NCAA Tournament regional. According to Warren Nolan, State is No. 7 in the RPI--the Pack has already won nine games against the RPI top 50. State has a bunch of games against the top 50 still to come, which will make or break the hosting situation. Obviously that's a huge edge in the first round of the NCAAs, and we've never failed to advance under Avent when hosting a regional. Even though we had to play in Wilson, NC one year.