Sam Highfill Blanks Vandy as Wolfpack Stays Red Hot

OMAHA NE – Sam Highfill tossed arguably the best game of his life in an NC State Wolfpack (37-18) 1-0 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores (46-16) in game two of the College World Series. The Pack continued their late-season surge on Tuesday evening, snagging their fifth straight win since losing 21-2 to Arkansas. It was the first time since March of 2019 that a team has shut out Vandy and their stingy offense.

Highfill took the hill for the Wolfpack and entered the outing supporting an 8-2 record to go along with a 3.98 ERA in 15 starts. Highly touted starter Jack Leiter got the nod for Vandy as Highfill was expected to be in for a battle. Despite Leiter striking out a jaw-dropping 15 batters, which marks the second-most by an SEC pitcher in CWS history. It was Highfill who came up on top in a good old fashion pitcher’s duel where both teams combined for just six hits.  

The right-handed freshman fired 7 1/3 shutout innings for the Pack while surrendering two hits, two walks, and piled up seven strikeouts. Highfill was dealing all game long and had the ability to locate his low 90’s fastball anywhere he wanted, and that complimented his deadly changeup well. Singles from Dominic Keegan and Javier Vaz in the 1st and 5th innings were the only damage that was done off Highfill. He finished the contest, throwing 100 total pitches, with 63 of them going for strikes. In the early stages of the game, after giving up the base hit in the 1st, he then retired a game-best seven Commodores in a row. 

Highfill had a game to remember and not to mention versus one of the best lineups in the entire country. He was pulled with one out in the 8th, and star reliever Evan Justice escaped the frame by forcing a groundout and a strikeout. Justice went on to pitch a clean 9th, thanks to a massive double-play to secure the 1-0 shutout win.

In a quiet offensive night for both clubs, Terrell Tatum connecting on a solo blast in the bottom half of the 5th inning was all that the Pack needed. Leading up to that at-bat, Leiter retired the first 12 batters and retired nine of them via strikeout. 

NC State now represents a 2-0 record and will next play on Friday, June 25th, as they continue their historical journey to a possible College World Series title.