RALEIGH, NC - North Carolina State improved to 12-0 on Sunday, rallying with two runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to defeat NJIT 6-5 at Doak Field.

The #21 Wolfpack scored the first run of the game in the top of the first, but NJIT (4-6) starting pitcher Joe Georgini shut them down over the next five innings as the Highlanders offense woke up in the top of the sixth. 

Albert Choi led off the inning with a walk and Ray Ortiz hit his third home run of the season one batter later to put NJIT ahead 2-1. Luke Longo followed up Ortiz's bomb with one of his own, his second of the series and team-best fifth of the season to give the Highlanders a 3-1 advantage.

NC State scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it a one-run game, but the Highlanders took advantage of a Wolfpack error to score two runs of their own in the eighth. Freshman Dillon Can stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners and two outs and roped a double to right centerfield to make it 5-2.

The Wolfpack clawed back with two runs in the home half of the eighth and then shut down the NJIT offense in the ninth to go into the bottom of the ninth inning down 5-4.

After a leadoff single, NJIT third baseman Jared Donnelly made a tremendous play to save what would've been a potential game-tying double down the left field line. 

However, one batter later, NC State's Payton Greene, a sophomore and former 15th round draft pick out of high school, hit a balll over the right field wall to give the Wolfpack the victory and the three-game series sweep.

Georgini's start was the best of his career, as he tossed six innings and gave up just three hits and one run.

Longo, Can, and Cole Fleming each had two hits to pace the Highlanders offense. 

NJIT will look to get back in the win column on Friday in the first of four games next weekend at Southeastern Conference (SEC) foe Missouri. It will be the Highlanders first game against an SEC team since the 2021 NCAA Regional first round game against host Arkansas.