7 HRs in 6 games?! NC State's White continues blistering start
The first seven days of Tommy White’s college career will go down as one of the best debut weeks in college baseball history.
The freshman first baseman homered twice -- including a fourth-inning grand slam -- and drove in six runs in No. 9 North Carolina State’s 10-4 win over Quinnipiac on Friday night at Doak Field. His big performance gave him seven home runs and 21 RBIs in his first six collegiate games.
“I’ve never experienced a hot streak like this. I think I had maybe five home runs in high school my senior year, so it’s pretty cool to go on this streak," said White after his second multihomer effort of the season. “I’m not really focused on how many I hit, just focused on hard contact, focusing on the game and the wins."
After flying out and striking out in his first two trips to the plate, White entered the batter’s box in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded and no one out. The 19-year-old crushed a hanging breaking ball over the left-center-field fence to give him his second grand slam of the season.
White batted again in the fifth inning with a man on first and drilled a first-pitch fastball over the center-field wall and the outstretched glove of Quinnipiac center fielder Anthony Donofrio, extending the Wolfpack’s lead to seven runs.
White has quickly earned the nickname “Tommy Tanks” thanks to his penchant for hitting monstrous homers while leading North Carolina State to a perfect 6-0 start. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Player of the Week after posting a .643/.688/1.714 slash line with a 2.402 OPS in his first weekend.
His college debut was a game Wolfpack fans will not soon forget: a 5-for-6 day with three long balls and six RBIs in a 24-6 win over the Evansville Aces. It was N.C. State’s first three-homer game of the BBCOR era and the first since Chris Schaefer’s three-home game in 2010.
The Florida native homered in each of the next two games, going 2-for-4 in both contests and driving in a total of six runs, leaving him with five home runs, nine hits, 12 RBIs and two intentional walks in the series.
White followed up his big weekend with a three-hit, two-RBI game against High Point University and reached base safely three times against Longwood University.
Over his six-game hot streak, the right-handed slugger has recorded five multihit games, two multi-homer games and three games with four-or-more RBIs.
In total, White, who MLB Pipeline ranked as the No. 107 prospect in the 2021 Draft class, has started his collegiate career going 15-for-26 with seven home runs, 21 RBIs, 13 runs scored, four walks, a stolen base, a .577/.633/1.385 slash line and a 2.018 OPS.