NC State Baseballs Welcomes UNC-Asheville for Midweek Matchups

UNC ASHEVILLE – NC STATE
Date: Tuesday-Wednesday, March 13-14
Location: Doak Field at Dail Park
Time: 3 p.m.
Radio: WKNC 88.1 FM
Live Video: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: SideArm Live Stats

STARTING PITCHERS
Tuesday – RHP Danny Wilson (UNCA) vs. TBA (NCSU)
Wednesday – TBA (UNCA) vs. TBA (NCSU)

*Rankings according to most recent Baseball America Top-25 Poll*

RALEIGH, N.C. – The 23rd-ranked NC State baseball team will welcome the UNC Asheville Bulldogs to Doak Field at Dail Park for a pair of midweek matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. on both days.

Both games will be streamed live on the ACC Network Extra and radio coverage will be available on WKNC 88.1 FM and on GoPack.com for premium subscribers.

NC State heads into the week with a 13-3 overall record, while UNC Asheville has played a very challenging schedule and the squad is 3-11.

Last Time Out
In its last outing, NC State split a doubleheader with Boston College, clinching the series in the process. The Wolfpack won last Friday’s ACC opener 2-1 and earned a 13-7 win in the first game of the twin bill to take the series.

UNC Asheville earned a 9-3 victory in its most recent outing at home against Manhattan.

Series Record
NC State and UNC Asheville have met six times in the history of the programs with the Wolfpack owning a 5-1 advantage.

Last Time Versus UNC Asheville
Last season, the Bulldogs also traveled to Raleigh when the Pack recorded the victory, 13-1. NC State had four different players tally three hits in the contest, as the Wolfpack collected 18 hits as a team.

Johnny Piedmonte made his first start of 2017 against UNC Asheville and pithed five innings to earn the win on the mound.

Scouting UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville heads to Raleigh with a very deceiving 3-11 record, as the Bulldogs are a strong team that challenged Florida State in a three-game series in Tallahassee and Mercer, the conference favorite in the Southern Conference, in a series in Georgia.

Carmine Pagano leads the team offensively with a .305 batting average, as UNC Asheville is hitting .217. Joe Gruszka owns a team-high three home runs and has scored a team-best 12 runs.

On the mound, the Bulldogs’ pitching staff has been tested against some strong offensive teams, as the staff has compiled a 6.39 ERA with 99 strikeouts.

Wolfpack Enters Baseball America, D1Baseball Rankings
For the first time this season, NC State is ranked in the Baseball America and D1Baseball Top-25 Polls, as the Wolfpack checks in at No. 23 and 24, respectively.

Wolfpack in the ACC Rankings
The NC State offense has been red hot to start the season, as the Wolfpack leads the ACC in seven categories: batting average (.327), hits (183), runs (134), runs batted in (124), total bases (312), slugging percentage (.558) and home runs (31).

Pack Power
NC State’s 31 home runs rank third in the NCAA as a team, six shy of the national leader, Tennessee Tech. The Wolfpack has hit at least one homer in 14 of 16 games this season.

Last season, NC State had 17 home runs through the first 16 games and has nearly doubled that number in 2018 in as many games.

The Wolfpack’s 31 home runs this year is more than the squad hit in all of 2013 (29) and 2014 (30).

Kinneman Leading the NCAA, ACC
NC State’s Brett Kinneman has enjoyed strong start to the season, as he is currently tied for the NCAA lead in home runs with nine. The York, Pa., native hit 10 homers in all of 2017.

His 28 hits pace the ACC and his 27 RBIs is also best in the conference.

Shutting It Down
The NC State bullpen has been stellar through the first half of the season, as the group has compiled a 1.81 ERA while opponents bullpens have recorded a 10.23 ERA.

Leaving ‘Em Stranded
The Wolfpack’s bullpen has inherited 33 runners and only six of them have scored, so NCSU pitchers have stranded 82 percent of the runners they inherited.

Lucky Fourth
NC State has scored 26 runs in the fourth inning of games this season, the most in any frame and has limited opponents to just five runs. The difference of 21 runs in the largest margin in an inning this year.