NC State baseball tops Campbell 5-1 to open Columbia Regional in NCAA Tournament

It was the LuJames Groover III show in the opening round of the NCAA baseball tournament.

The junior infielder's two-home run outing sent NC State baseball past Big South champion Campbell, 5-1, in the first game of the NCAA regional in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday.

No. 3 seed NC State (36-19) advances to face the winner of No. 1 South Carolina and No. 4 Central Connecticut State on Saturday (6 p.m., ACC Network/ESPN+). No.2 Campbell (44-14) will face the USC/Central Connecticut loser (noon, ESPN+).

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Campbell's No. 1 scoring offense connected but didn't score

For the first time in 28 games, the No. 1 scoring team in the nation (9.8 runs per game), was held to a single run, its fewest since April 6 against Big South rival Presbyterian College.

But it wasn't like the Campbell offense was dormant; it just wasn't able to turn baserunners into scores. In the third, the Camels put two runners on, but the Wolfpack outfield made great catches to keep the inning scoreless.

In the fourth, the Camels left two more baserunners stranded, and in the sixth left the bases loaded on a strikeout. Campbell finished the game with 10 hits.

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Errors from Campbell shifted momentum to NC State

NC State produced three home runs — two from James and one from outfielder Trevor Candelaria — and 10 hits. But it wasn't just the long ball that got the Wolfpack going.

Two errors in the third inning from Campbell helped the Wolfpack extend its lead to 3-0 and shifted momentum to NC State, which never looked back.

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This was pitchers' duel for six innings

For about six innings, this matchup was controlled by the pitchers. For Campbell, Cade Kuehler had allowed one earned run — the two runs in the third were via errors — and had four strikeouts, while NC State's Logan Whitaker continued his scoreless innings streak another 5⅓ innings.

It was only when the starters came out that three of the four earned runs were scored.

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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC State baseball tops Campbell 5-1 to open NCAA Tournament regional