RALEIGH, N.C. - The IUPUI Jaguars avenged a defeat earlier in the day to North Carolina State by beating the Wolfpack 8-4 in the semifinals of the DoubleTree RDU Invite.

The Jags (9-15) used an offensive explosion in the early innings to get the lead and held on during some stressful final innings to advance to face Ohio on Sunday (Mar. 20).

"[This win over an ACC team] is great for our program, but I expect that because we can hit," said head coach Amanda Rivera. "If we are running on all cylinders we are a dangerous team offensively."

IUPUI put up five runs in the first inning, thanks in large part to poor NC State pitching. After Delilah Wright led the game off with a single, NC State's pitcher, Courtney Mirabella lost sight of the strike zone. Mirabella walked Morgan Schlobohm and Taylor Chitwood on eight straight balls to load the bases. Roni Patterson's walk brought home the first run for the Jags.

After a pitching change, things did not change for the Wolfpack. A wild pitch brought home a run and Maggie Good walked to reload the bases. Ali Mosier grounded out for the first out of the game but still brought home a run to make the score 3-0. Freshman Kristin London delivered with a single up the middle to bring home two runs and make the lead 5-0. It was London's first and second career RBIs.

The Jags added two more runs in the top of the second. The first came on a Chitwood single that scored Schlobohm and later in the inning, London continued her solid night with a single up the middle to bring home Chitwood. London, who finished 2-3 with a walk, added her fourth RBI on a bases loaded walk in the top of the fourth that put the Jags up 8-1.

"It was amazing," said London about collecting her first career RBI. "It's awesome to be contributing and helping out the team. It feels good to finally hit."

While the offense was clicking, so was Nickole Finch in the circle. Finch was solid in her third start on the season only giving up four runs while throwing a complete game and striking out four.

"Finch can be really really scare at times," said Rivera. "I hope we are in the swing of things with her now. With how hard she throws and the curve ball coming in to those righties, its scary. I hope she uses this to gain confidence, especially as we get in to the Summit League."

While solid, it was still not without stress for Finch. In the second inning the Wolfpack put a runner on third but Finch snagged a grounder up the middle for the final out of the inning.

In the sixth, a lead off walk led to a run scoring double to make the score 8-2. Two batters later the bases were loaded with no outs and the Wolfpack looking to make some noise and get back in the game. A grounder to Finch led to a 1-2-3 double play and a fly out to left ended the inning with only the one run surrendered.

The Wolfpack did not go quietly in the seventh either. Three straight singles made the score 8-3 and put runners on first and second. After a strikeout, another single made it 8-4 and put runners on the corners. A walk by Finch loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate but Finch calmed down and got a groundball to short and the runner was thrown out at home. The next batter to hit a chopper back to Finch, who tossed to first for the final out of the game and give the Jags the win over their ACC opponent.

"It was my first full seven inning game of my college career. It felt good," said Finch. "I know it was a little rough at the end. The defense picked it up at the end and made up for some of my mistakes. It was a solid team effort."

With the win, the Jags will play for the championship of the tournament tomorrow (Mar. 20) against Ohio with first pitch scheduled for 12:30 p.m.