Super beatdown: N.C. State pounds Georgia baseball behind 11-run inning in game one win

Things unraveled bat after at bat in the second inning for Georgia baseball in its showdown against N.C. State Saturday.

It came on an afternoon when Kudzu Hill behind the right field foul pole was jammed with fans packed for the Bulldogs first Super Regional since 2008.

Inside Foley Field, N.C. State peppered pitcher Kolten Smith one hitter after another.

The visiting Wolfpack batted around with 10 straight hitters reaching base against the Georgia starter as the Wolfpack scored 11 runs in a disastrous inning en route to a 18-1 pasting in game one before a crowd of 3,829.

It was Georgia's most lopsided loss and third most runs allowed in 93 NCAA postseason games in program history. The Wolfpack ended the day with five homers and 20 hits off four different Georgia pitchers.

"Here's the great thing about our game, nothing carries over to tomorrow," Georgia coach Wes Johnson said. "The scoreboard goes back to 0-0. We're going to come back and be ready to respond."

Georgia (42-16) will try to keep its season alive when it faces the Wolfpack (37-20) Sunday at noon in the best-of-three series. The Wolfpack are a win away from their fourth College World Series appearance in program history.

N.C. State tagged Smith for 9 hits and 10 runs (8 earned) in that second inning and took advantage of some shoddy defense.

"Obviously, that one inning got things out of kilter for them a little bit," N.C. State coach Elliott Avent said.

It began with singles by Brandon Butterworth and Alex Sosa and then back-to-back bunt singles. Luke Nixon’s to the first base side scored the first run and Matt Heavner dragged one between the mound and third base and Smith was slow to react.

"Just chaos unloaded and then we just started rolling," N.C. State catcher Jacob Cozart said.

That loaded the bases for Noah Soles (2-for-5, 5 RBI) who cleared them with a double down the right field line for 4-0.

Eli Serrano blasted his 8th homer of the season to right center to make it 6-0. The Wolfpack made it eight straight hits with singles from Garrett Pennington and then Alec Makarewicz who cracked a shot up the middle that grazed a finger on Smith’s pitching hand.

After a trainer checked on Smith (9-3), Cozart grounded to first but Corey Collins’ throw to second pulled Slate Alford off the bag for an error.

Then Butterworth singled for the second time in the inning to make it 7-0 when right fielder Dylan Goldstein tried to make a catch at the wall but it went off his glove.

Chandler Marsh stopped the bleeding momentarily by getting a bases loaded strike out but but Sosa followed with a double to make it 9-0.

Clayton Chadwick misread a fly ball to left that was scored a double to bring in two more runs.

The Wolfpack had 11 runs and 11 hits in the inning, the most in an inning for N.C. State in its seven Super Regional appearances.

Georgia gave up 12 runs in the fourth inning of a 19-11 loss to Florida on May 18 at home. The school record allowed is 13 to Tennessee in 2010.

Collins said Georgia practices for the bunts but 'they just put a little pressure. That's all you can say. I made a couple of mistakes."

Smith didn't walk a batter and threw strikes on 30 of his 38 pitches.

"I made the comment to a couple of my coaches in my dugout...I've never given up 11 runs in an inning and never walked or hit a guy," Johnson said.

N.C. State starter Sam Highfill (7-2) retired the first eight batters he faced and gave up just one run and four hits over six innings. The Bulldogs didn’t get their first hit until No. 9 batter Branch singled in the bottom of the third.

The highlight of the game for Georgia may have been a pair of diving catches by center fielder Dillon Carter.

Cozart added his 17^th homer of the season and a run-scoring single to make it 13-0 in the fifth and later added his 18th. Collins’ run-scoring single in the fifth inning got Georgia on the scoreboard, but the game was all but over.

Georgia made wholesale defensive changes in the top of the sixth.

Georgia and NC State met in 2008 in the Super Regional round the last time the Bulldogs advanced that far.

N.C. State had a freshman designated hitter named Russell Wilson who became a star NFL quarterback. Georgia star Gordon Beckham homered twice in a 17-8 game 3 win.

“Couldn’t get Gordon Beckham out and we lost game three,” Avent said when asked of his memories returning to Foley for the first time since then.

Georgia has perhaps the best player in college baseball in Charlie Condon.

The nation's leader in homer runs and batting average went 0-for-3 Saturday with a walk.

Condon and his Georgia teammates now need to dig deep with their season on the line.

"I don't know how many days I have here in Athens," said Collins, a senior. "All I can really do for these guys is to just try and have as much fun as a I can."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia baseball needs two Super Regional wins after N.C. State blowout