You wouldn’t guess it based on the final score but this was an iffy one heading into the late stages—NC State trailed 4-3 headed into the bottom of the sixth, but from there the offense took off.
State scored five in the bottom of the sixth, seven in the bottom of the seventh, and then threw on a couple more in the eighth for good measure.
While all this was happening, Louisville was busy losing to FSU, which secured State’s spot in the ACC tournament—so regardless of what happened in this game, State was locked into the conference tournament.