ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2022

Tommy White

Canaan Silver

Elliott Advent

Truist Field

NC State Wolfpack

Postgame Press Conference

NC State 8, Pitt 3

ELLIOTT AVENT: Very proud of the players, this week, the ac tournament, playing that Tuesday, Wednesday game was really, really tough after a Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And so we're very proud of how they played this week and how they played today. That's a really good Pitt team. They are well-coached. Mike Bell is one of the great minds in college baseball and that's a veteran team that plays with a lot of heart, a lot of grit and just five once we got in the first, some good at-bats, good approaches at the plate and then Canaan really set the tone by keeping us scoreless there. Had one hiccup in the third inning and -- but Canaan set a big-time tone. He's been so big for us all year in so many roles.

Q. Just what it means to both of you for Tommy to have broken the NCAA freshman home run record now at this point?

ELLIOTT AVENT: Probably means more to me than it does to Tommy right now and years down the road it will still mean a lot to him. It's nice to are your name besides something. He just wants to play and win games right now and that's what he's all about. He can't probably soak that in. That's a record. I've been around a long time. That's a record that I thought would never be broken in this era with the change in the bats and stuff like that.

So I just -- it's amazing to me. He's been amazing. Not just as a player but as a person, character, teammate, what he means to his teammates. So it's special, probably more special for me than Tommy right now and one day he'll understand how special it is.

TOMMY WHITE: Yeah, what he said. I can't really processed it. I think it's cool but I'm just looking for -- I want to win the game, help the team win.

Q. Canaan, following up on what Tommy just said, you have a chance to win a championship tomorrow and the fan base is pretty hungry for that. How much do you want this thing tomorrow?

CANAAN SILVER: Championship going back to NC State would be huge. We fell a lit short last year and just to do it for last year's team and this year's team, Wolfpack Nation, that would be huge, and it's going against Carolina, that maybe makes it even a little bit sweeter to win that game. So yeah, we're just going to go out, play hard, play the ball that we know that we can and just see how the cards fall. So that's our plan.

Q. How big was it when you guys came out of the dugout to star start the game and you look around and see all the red in the stands? Did it feel like a home game?

CANAAN SILVER: Yeah, I mean, the Wolfpack Nation follows us wherever we go. They are great. I think they are one of the best fan bases in the league. I mean, you can't ask for anything more. I don't know how many we have but it was a lot and it definitely felt like a home game out there playing, just at a different field. We appreciate all that they do and it's great to play in front of them.

TOMMY WHITE: Yeah, it's a lot easier playing when people are cheering for you and yelling at you, than traveling around, get boos and yelled at a lot. But playing in front of our fans, we thrive out there. You don't have to worry about people in your head or anything.

Q. And obviously this game is going to be big, any ways, regardless, being the ACC Championship game, but knowing it's against Carolina, does that change anything?

ELLIOTT AVENT: I don't think so. I mean, probably changes for the fans, and I think Justin told me, there's like 8,500 people here tonight. That's incredible. He said it holds 10.5K, and I shall there will be 10.6K here tomorrow. Great venue and for the City of Charlotte, it will be awesome. But like Tommy said, we want to win a championship.

Like Canaan said, we fell short last year and I think, at times I felt like -- who is the guy on the Buffalo Bills, played all the Super Bowls and couldn't win one? Marv Levy. Felt like Marv Levy at times.

I think this is going to be the sixth ACC Championship we've played since I've been here but this is an unbelievably good league and to get to the championship game that many times, and to get to this game tomorrow at the last year with an entirely new team pretty much, it's a great tribute to the players, and the coaching staff and all the staff. We are just so proud.

Q. You do have some players coming back from last year. Can you use them to draw upon in terms of experience of playing on a Sunday as you did last year to help you tomorrow?

ELLIOTT AVENT: Our players you have to give credit to the guys who have returned, Canaan, David Harrison, obviously J.T. and Devonte, Childs, there have been a lot of guys, Matt Willadsen, Sam Highfill, even though he's not on the field. But our new guys have drawn from them all year. So that's why we're in the championship game because our leadership on the field and the locker room has been so incredible and the way our new guys have approached that and gleaned all that and learned from that because they know they will be leading this team for the next couple years.

As a coach, it's fun to watch.

Q. I noticed when the relief pitcher came in and Groover struck out, he spoke to you. To have Brown and Groover ahead of you in the lineup, there was talk about your home runs but to be able to bat behind those guys and see what they have done, they are not the conventional ones who they can hit the ball out of the park as well. How has that helped you and what is that like watching them from the on-deck circle?

TOMMY WHITE: They are very good. When they are on base, sets up my RBIs. They are on base most of time. Their approach -- some people change stuff up, pitchers, when they pitch. But seeing the pitches they have, I get a better idea what I'm going to see in the box.

ELLIOTT AVENT: We could send 11 teams to the NCAA Tournament, easily, and that's never happened in the ACC but certainly has a chance, and so -- but I said this tomorrow times, since the doubleheader at Florida State, that was fairly early, we stayed 26 insurance Sunday at Florida State. Since, this team has grown tremendously, gotten better. There's been ups and downs, there always is in this game.

This game is extremely tough to play and takes great physical talent and it takes great emotional stability -- inaudible -- go back to Omaha, but with that said, so is everybody probably that's going to get their name called on Monday. But I know this team, the way they have grown, this team will be ready for a regional.

Q. Obviously this team didn't have the offense this past weekend against Wake Forest. You've now been able to move on over the last three games with the offense finding itself again. How confident do you feel in this offense up and down the lineup going into tomorrow and into the regionals?

TOMMY WHITE: After I said after the Miami game, we get hot at the right times -- we need to get hot; we get hot. When it's time to go, we are not going to tread down from the best pitchers or anything.

Hitting is crazy. Wake Forest was crazy, the whole lineup, that's pretty rare for our lineup, for everybody to not be hitting. Once playoffs hit, everybody knows -- we've just got to kick it up a notch and I think we showed that we can do that.

Q. Your assessment of tomorrow's opponent, what are your thoughts right now?

ELLIOTT AVENT: Really good. Right now they are really hot. You'd have to say they are one of the hottest teams in the country, play with a lot of confidence, a lot of emotion, like when you're playing that well for a period of time. It's going to be a great game. We're looking forward to and we'll have to play really good tomorrow.