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NC State Baseball

No. 2 NC State Travels to Duke for Top-5 Matchup This Weekend

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6 years ago

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NC STATE – DUKE
Dates: Friday – Sunday, April 20-22
Location: Jack Coombs Field (Durham, N.C.)
Times: 6 p.m. (Fri.) | 1 p.m. (Sat. & Sun.)
Radio: WKNC 88.1 FM
Live Video: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast

STARTING PITCHERS
Friday – RHP Reid Johnston (NCSU) vs. LHP Adam Laskey (Duke)
Saturday – LHP Brian Brown (NCSU) vs. LHP Mitch Stallings (Duke)
Sunday – RHP Michael Bienlien (NCSU) vs. TBA (Duke)

*Rankings based on this week’s Collegiate baseball top-25 poll*

RALEIGH, N.C. – The ACC leaders in the Atlantic and Coastal divisions will collide this weekend when the second-ranked NC State baseball team travels to No. 3 Duke for a three-game series.

Friday’s game is set for 6 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday’s games will begin at 1 p.m. at Jack Coombs Field on Duke’s campus.

All three games will be broadcast live on the ACC Network Extra, accessible through Watch ESPN and the Watch ESPN App. Radio coverage will also be available on WKNC 88.1 FM and on GoPack.com for premium subscribers.

NC State enters the weekend with a 29-7 overall record, including a 13-5 mark in ACC play to lead the Atlantic Division, while Duke owns a 30-8 mark and a 12-5 ledger in conference action to lead the Coastal Division.

Last Time Out
In its last outing, the Wolfpack earned an 8-3 win against eighth-ranked UNC-Chapel Hill in the ‘Duel at the DBAP’, a rare non-conference matchup between the programs. NC State struck first on a two-run homer from Patrick Bailey and put the game away with a three-run homer in the ninth inning by Evan Edwards.

Duke dropped a 9-2 decision at home against East Carolina in its most recent outing on Tuesday evening.

The Series
NC State and Duke have met 283 times in the history of the programs with the Wolfpack owning a 154-128-1 lead in the all-time series. NCSU has won seven of the last 10 meetings with the Blue Devils.

Last Time Versus Duke
The Wolfpack and Blue Devils last met during the 2016 season when NC State won the series held at Doak Field at Dail Park. The Pack recorded a 3-2 win in game one and a 12-2 victory in game two to clinch the series.

Duke edged NC State in the series finale, 2-1, to avoid the sweep. Evan Mendoza hit a walkoff single to give NCSU the 3-2 win in the first game of the series, which is the most recent walkoff win for the program.

Last Time at Duke
NC State last made the short trip over to Duke in 2014, but that series was held at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park instead of Jack Coombs Field. The Blue Devils won the first and third games of series to clinch, after the Wolfpack evened the series with a 6-2 win in game two.

Scouting Duke
The Duke Blue Devils are ranked among the top 10 of five major polls for the first time in program history with the highest at No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll. The Blue Devils won their last ACC series against Florida State, as the squad picked up their first series victory against the Seminoles since 1994.

Duke has only lost one conference series this season, falling in the rubber game of the series at Wake Forest.

Joey Loperfido leads the team at the plate with a .328 batting average to go along with 41 hits and a team-high 28 RBI. Griffin Conine paces the Blue Devils with seven home runs and the team has hit 30 for the year. As a team, Duke owns a .261 batting average and is scoring 6.26 runs per game.

Duke’s pitching staff is tied for the second-best ERA in the conference with a 3.43 clip.

Wolfpack in the National, ACC Rankings
Team
Batting Average – .304 (1st in ACC, 16th in NCAA)
Hits – 379 (2nd in ACC, 22nd in NCAA)
Home Runs – 56 (1st in ACC, 5th in NCAA)
Home Runs Per Game – 1.56 (1st in ACC, 4th in NCAA)
On-base Percentage – .404 (1st in ACC, 14th in NCAA)
Slugging Percentage – .489 (1st in ACC, 8th in NCAA)
Runs – 278 (1st in ACC, 13th in NCAA)
Scoring – 7.7 (1st in ACC, 10th in NCAA)

Walks Plus Hits Per Inning Pitched (WHIP) – 1.27 (2nd in ACC, 32nd in NCAA)
Earned Run Average – 3.44 (4th in ACC, 35th in NCAA)
Hits Allowed Per 9 Innings – 7.80 (4th in ACC, 34th in NCAA)

Individual
Brian Brown
ERA – 1.09 (1st in ACC, 4th in NCAA)

Brett Kinneman
Home Runs – 13 (1st in ACC, 5th in NCAA)
RBI – 45 (1st in ACC, 12th in NCAA)

Josh McLain
Hits – 60 (1st in ACC, 11th in NCAA)
Hits Per Game – 1.67 (1st in ACC, 6th in NCAA)

Joe O’Donnell
Saves – 7 (2nd in ACC, 33rd in NCAA)

Nine in a Row
The Wolfpack owns the ACC’s longest active series-win streak, as NC State has won nine consecutive conference series. NC State has won each of its weekend matchups dating back to the Virginia Tech series from last season.

Road Warriors
NC State owns the ACC’s best road record with a 7-2 mark in conference games. The Wolfpack, Louisville and Wake Forest are the only teams in the league that have swept a three-game conference road series.

PACKing a Punch
NC State’s two, three and four batters in the lineup have combined to hit 33 of the Wolfpack’s 56 home runs this season. Brett Kinneman leads the group and the ACC with 13 homers, while Will Wilson and Evan Edwards each have 10 long balls.

Tatum on a Tear
Since being inserted into the NC State lineup for the series finale at Louisville, freshman Terrell Tatum has compiled a .381 batting average at the plate, which is the second best on the team in the past six games.

The Collierville, Tenn., native has scored seven runs, collected five RBI and stole three bases during that span.

Big Innings
NC State has scored four of more runs in an inning 21 times this season with the most recent occurrence in game two of the doubleheader against Notre Dame. The Wolfpack scored six runs in the third inning and added four runs in the seventh en route to the victory.

The Pack’s season high for runs in an inning is eight, accomplished in the fourth inning of the Campbell game on March 3 and the seventh inning of the Air Force game on Feb. 26.

Wilson Garners Second ACC Player of the Week
Will Wilson was named the ACC Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, April 16. He helped lead NC State to a 3-1 record last week, compiling a .316 batting average with eight RBI, six runs and three home runs.

The sophomore shortstop recorded his second career multi-homer game in the series finale against Notre Dame to clinch the series, as the Wolfpack extended its ACC series-win streak to nine dating back to 2017.

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NC State Baseball

#21 NC State is Looking for Revenge Against #7 ECU

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10 hours ago

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April 23, 2024

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Earlier this season on April 2nd, #21 NC State (22-15) lost to #7 ECU (31-8) 4-12 in Raleigh. This evening the Wolfpack will look to get revenge against the Pirates in a game in Greenville at 6pm.

Overall, NC State holds a 71-43 advantage over East Carolina in the series, which dates back to 1957.

Last year, the Wolfpack and the Pirates split their 2-game series, ironically, losing at home, and winning in Greenville.

Replicating last years results will be no small task. The Pirates are ranked 7th in the land, and boast a 3-1 record against ranked opponents this season. One of those wins was against NC State, when the Wolfpack was ranked 19th. The other two ranked wins were at UNC when they were ranked 15th.

NC State has done well against ranked opponents, going 7-4 against teams in the Top-25, and 4-2 against teams in the Top-10.

The Pirates’ pitching staff leads the AAC and is in the Top-10 nationally in ERA (3.61), WHIP (1.18), hits allowed per nine innings (6.99) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.04).

ECU’s home field advantage is a real thing, going 20-2 at home thus far this season.

Senior Carter Cunningham leads the Pirates in nearly every offensive category, batting .396 with 9 Home Runs. He’s not alone though. Five of ECU’s regular starters have batting averages over .300.

It will be a homecoming for Senior Wolfpack Third Baseman Alec Makarewicz, who transferred to NC State from ECU this offseason. A-Mak is having the best season of his career, hitting 15 Home Runs while batting .349. It would be fitting for Makarewicz to win at his old stomping grounds.

 

 

 

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NC State Baseball

NC State is Solidly Back in the Top-25 After Series Victory Over Rival UNC

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1 day ago

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April 22, 2024

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NC State’s Baseball team is solidly back in the Top-25 after winning a series over rival UNC this past weekend, winning 2 of 3 at home. Last week, the Wolfpack were ranked 22nd in the Baseball America poll, but in none of the others.

NC State will play a midweek game at East Carolina tomorrow night on the road, and the Pirates rank 7th in the D1Baseball and Coaches Poll.

Baseball America – 17th

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D1Baseball – 21st

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USA Today Coaches Poll – 23rd

Perfect Game – 25th 

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NC State Baseball

NC State Wins Series, but Loses Finale to #11 UNC 14-3

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3 days ago

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April 20, 2024

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NC State won the first two games of the series, clinching their first series victory over rival #11 UNC since 2021, and the first one at home since 2016. The Wolfpack weren’t able to pull of the sweep this afternoon, losing the finale to the Tar Heels 3-14.

The NC State pitching staff didn’t have an answer for the UNC bats today. Starter Freshman Cooper Consiglio gave up 6 runs (5 earned) in 3.1 innings, striking out 4, and walking 4. The Wolfpack put 5 pitchers on the mound today, and every single one of them gave up runs. Sophomore Andrew Shaffner and Freshman Camden Wimbish both gave up 3 runs apiece.

Junior Jacob Cozart was the only bright spot in the Wolfpack’s offense today, hitting 2 solo Home Runs, marking only the 2nd time in his career that he has hit 2+ Home Runs in a single game.

The Wolfpack have two Top-10 series wins (Duke #9 and Clemson #2), and now another Top-15 series win (UNC #11).

Things don’t get any easier this Tuesday, playing #9 ECU on the road at 6pm. NC State should be ranked when they play the Pirates this week.

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NC State Baseball

NC State has Dominated UNC in Athletics in 2023-24

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3 days ago

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April 20, 2024

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After NC State clinched a series victory over UNC last night in Baseball, I thought it would be a good time to relish in how the Wolfpack has dominated the Tar Heels Athletic Program as a whole in 2023-24.

The Wolfpack Baseball team has won the first two games in the series against the Tar Heels, clinching a series victory over UNC for the first time since 2021. It marks the first time NC State has won a series against the Tar Heels in Raleigh since 2016.

NC State defeated UNC in Volleyball 3-1, winning in Chapel Hill for the first time in 25 years. The Tar Heels had won the last 5 matches against the Wolfpack.

The Wolfpack defeated the Tar Heels 39-20 in Football in Carter-Finley Stadium. It marked the 3rd consecutive win over UNC.

NC State lost both regular season games to UNC in Men’s Basketball, but when it mattered most, the Wolfpack defeated the Tar Heels in the ACC Championship Game 84-76, winning their first title since 1987.

The Wolfpack Women’s Basketball team lost to their rival in Chapel Hill, but defeated UNC 63-59 in Reynolds Coliseum. NC State has won 5 of the last 7 against UNC.

In Gymnastics, NC State defeated UNC 196.725-194.925 in Raleigh. This marked the 3rd straight victory for the Wolfpack over the Tar Heels.

NC State’s Men & Women’s Swimming & Diving teams both beat UNC. The Men won 258-93, and the Women won 196-157.

The Wolfpack Wrestling team defeated UNC 33-6 in Reynolds Coliseum. NC State has won 11 straight Duals against the Tar Heels.

The NC State Men’s Tennis team defeated UNC 4-0, winning against their rival in back-to-back years.

The Wolfpack Women’s Tennis team has defeated the Tar Heels 4-3 on two occasions thus far this season, and will face their rival again today.

The Cross Country teams didn’t have individual meets against UNC, but the Women obviously beat them, because they won the ACC Championship. The Men didn’t, finishing 8th in the Conference, with the Tar Heels finishing 1st.

The only other NC State athletic team that didn’t taste victory against UNC this year was the Women’s Soccer team, losing 0-4 in Raleigh.

Of course, each of these NC State athletic teams has much higher goals than just beating their rival, but there’s no denying how sweet it is to beat the Tar Heels.

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