NC State Baseball
No. 3 NC State Turns Away No. 11 Florida State to Reach 40 Wins
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The third-ranked NC State baseball team earned a 5-3 win in the series finale against No. 11 Florida State Saturday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium. The Wolfpack reaches 40 wins with the victory, one of just three teams in the ACC to reach the mark this season.
NC State also clinched the No. 3 seed in next week’s ACC Championship held at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Wolfpack will be paired with the No. 6 and No. 10 seeds in Pool C.
The full schedule of games will be announced on Sunday morning.
The Wolfpack scored in the second inning and never trailed en route to the win to move to 40-14 on the year and 19-11 in ACC play, which ties the program record for conference wins. The Seminoles fall to 39-17 and 16-13 in conference action.
Quick Hits
– NC State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the game after a solo home run from Evan Edwards.
– The junior launched a 1-1 pitch over the right field wall for his 13th home run of the year.
– Brett Kinneman launched an opposite field solo shot in the fourth to put the Pack ahead 2-0 on his 17th homer of the year, which is the second most in the ACC.
– Florida State got on the board in the bottom half of the inning with a solo homer from Cal Raleigh, as the first three runs of the game were scored on long balls.
– The Wolfpack loaded the bases and pushed across a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to extend the lead to 4-1.
– Edwards drew an RBI walk after singles from Will Wilson, Patrick Bailey and a walk from Kinneman to make it 3-1.
– Stephen Pitarra hit into a double play, but it allowed Kinneman to score and extend the NC State lead to 4-1.
– The Seminoles got a pair of runs back in the bottom of the seventh after an RBI single from Rhett Aplin and a double by Cal Raleigh.
– Fortunately for the Wolfpack, relief pitcher Connor Centala struck out the next batter to end the threat and strand a pair of runners on second and third.
– NC State tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth following a sacrifice fly from Edwards, as he drove in his third run of the day.
– Kinneman doubled to start the inning after the FSU outfielder lost a ball in the sun and advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on the sac fly to extend the margin to 5-3.
– Three nice defensive plays by the Wolfpack in the bottom of the inning preserved the win.
Inside the Box Score
– Kinneman was 2-for-3 in the contest with three runs scored to lead NC State at the plate, highlighted by a home run and a double.
– Bailey, Brock Deatherage, Edwards, Pitarra and Wilson each had one hit for the Pack.
On the Mound
– Freshman David Harrison started on the mound for NC State and pitched 3.2 innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run.
– Kent Klyman threw 2.2 innings of relief to earn the win and move to 7-2 on the year, while Joe O’Donnell closed it out to nail down his 11th save of the year.
On Deck
NC State will return to action next week at the ACC Championship held at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park
The NC State Baseball team is now 7-0 through two weeks of play, going 4-0 last week, defeating Coastal Carolina 16-4 on the road in a midweek game, and sweeping Belmont at home this past weekend (11-4, 7-0, 7-1).
The Wolfpack remain ranked 21st in the D1Baseball Top-25.
(NCAA)
The Wolfpack moved up 11 spots to #19 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, up 2 spots to #20 in the Coaches Poll, and up 1 spot to #24 in the Baseball America poll.
NC State will host Longwood today at 3pm in their next matchup.
NC State’s Men’s Baseball team stayed put at #21 in the D1Baseball Top-25 after an opening weekend sweep of Wagner.
(NCAA)
NC State also stayed put at #25 in the Baseball America’s new poll, and stayed put at #30 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll.
The Wolfpack will play Coastal Carolina on the road this Wednesday at
The 2023 ACC Preseason Poll was released yesterday, and NC State is projected to finish 3rd in the Atlantic.
NC State finished 5th in the Atlantic Division in 2022, with a 14-15 record in Conference play.
I was just about to write a piece about the Doak renovation going down.
Feb. 17 is right around the corner and #TheDoak is looking nice 👀 #Pack9 #GoPack pic.twitter.com/w64471DPFj
— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) January 25, 2023
But while I was over on Twitter, I saw a ton of comments on it, all of them NC State fans, and almost all of them critical of the new look.
Look, I don’t know what’s going on here. Maybe it’ll look a lot better once it’s done, or maybe the grass will match up a lot better when it greens up. But right now, it’s a little jarring. Here is how it used to look…
And here is how it’s looking right now…
Doak Field renovation coming along. Sod and turf almost completed #accbaseball #pack9 #ncsu pic.twitter.com/SYKgmSQZhi
— Allen (@BigalnRaleigh) January 19, 2023
Again, I’m going to wait until it’s really done before I cast judgement, but I think the official tweet from the school marketing it and drawing attention to it, has people thinking it’s in it’s final form. And maybe it is. But I hope it’s not.
I remember this being shared a while back…
This shows grass in foul territory and dirt in the 1st/3rd baselines. So I’m not sure when this turf thing came along. And while we’re on the subject, aren’t we a turf management school? Shouldn’t we be turning up our noses at artificial turf?
Apparently, this is a thing now, where foul territories are artificial turf and fair territory is grass. Here is Mississippi State’s baseball field doing the same thing.
🔜 #NewDude pic.twitter.com/dCoqhCKxLI
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) February 15, 2019
Can’t say I like it there either, honestly. It just seems like one of those fads. Remember when everyone was going crazy with field/court colors?
School with a grey field and school with a glow in the dark basketball court meet on blue turf. Winning coach gets dumped with French fries. College athletics at its absolute best. https://t.co/crEKoeLKbX pic.twitter.com/Bpeod50Sy4
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 4, 2022
Good time to remind everyone that Memphis’ basketball court should be fired directly into the sun. https://t.co/jXpDbPQ7Iw pic.twitter.com/htyMv4sAXD
— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) November 10, 2021
The worst basketball court in the history of the sport. Thanks a lot, Oregon. pic.twitter.com/842T5CYmIc
— Craig Miller (@junior_miller) January 30, 2022
Did anyone ever really like those? Do people like them now? Have they ever gotten a recruit to come to the school? Have they ever scared a recruit away?
I don’t know. You tell me. I’ll hold final judgment, but things NC State fans don’t seem like they’re going to follow along.