No Rodon, No Problem: NC State Beats Binghamton, 4-1

Tarran Senay and Trea Turner went yard, the bullpen combined to throw more than five innings of shutout ball, and NC State kept itself in the winner's bracket with a 4-1 victory over Binghamton on Friday night.

Prior to Friday, State hadn't homered twice in a single game since mid-March. Senay got the offense going with a two-run shot in the bottom of the first that gave Ethan Ogburn a little margin for error. Which was good because Ogburn wasn't exactly sparkling out there and left the game after completing 3-2/3 innings and allowing Binghamton's lone run.

As has been the case all year, the Wolfpack bullpen stepped in and pitched well. Andrew Woeck and Josh Easley combined to strike out five Binghamton hitters over the final 5-1/3 innings while allowing three hits. Easley, who earned the win, was the real star--he closed out the game with 4-1/3 innings of one-hit ball, allowing State to save the rest of its relievers for the games ahead.

The Bearcats chose for whatever reason not to start Jake Lambert on the mound, instead going with Jack Rogalla, who has good control but isn't overpowering. He obviously made a couple of huge mistakes, Gob-style, but true to form, didn't walk anybody.

I'd imagine they'll throw Lambert at Ole Miss in the elimination game tomorrow, so this all worked out just fine for us. Elliott Avent isn't changing his mind about starting Carlos Rodon in game two despite the Rebels' loss to William & Mary, by the way, and that is fine by me.

State takes on the Tribe at 7 p.m. Saturday.