NC State Baseball
NC State’s Strong Season Ends in NCAA Regional Final Against Auburn
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State baseball team advanced to the NCAA Regional Final for the fourth consecutive season but saw its strong 2018 season come to a close with a 15-7 loss against the Auburn Tigers on Sunday night at Doak Field at Dail Park.
With the win, the Tigers advance to the NCAA Super Regionals to face the winner of the Gainesville Regional.
The Wolfpack concludes the season with a 42-18 overall record and Auburn moves to 42-21. NC State recorded the program’s first 40-win season since 2013 and matched the program record with 19 ACC wins.
NCSU won eight of its 10 conference series, highlighted by three road series wins against top-25 opponents.
Avent’s Additions
Overall thoughts…
“First thing I’m going to do is congratulate the Auburn Tigers,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “Butch Thompson has done an incredible job since he got to Auburn. He’s an old friend of mine and we had some good words there at the end. They got a good ball club, a really good offensive ball club and they’re sound defensively.
“I’d like to congratulate these guys lined up here; these are our seniors. You always remember what’s the latest on your mind, but you’d be hard pressed to find a group of seniors from NC State baseball that’s as classy. They got their work done on the field and off the field; academics, the whole nine yards. They represented this university and the baseball program in a way people have no idea. I’d like to thank our fans, they been great all year. I think we sold out season tickets six or seven years in a row and they love watching these guys play, we love watching these guys play. I’d like to thank our fans and these guys really respect them.”
Quick Hits
– Auburn struck first when Will Holland scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Brendan Venter in the first inning. Holland drew a leadoff walk, then advanced to third by way of a Steven Williams single and a sac bunt by Brett Wright.
– The Tigers added three runs in the second and two in the third to take a 6-0 lead, but NC State answered in the fourth inning scoring three runs to make it a 7-3 game.
– Brett Kinneman walked to lead off the frame and scored on a double to left center by Patrick Bailey. After a single from Evan Edwards, Brock Deatherage tripled to plate Bailey and Edwards, cutting the Auburn lead to four.
– The Tigers tacked on a run in the fifth to make it 8-3 before NC State loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh.
– Shane Shepard pinch-hit for the Wolfpack and worked a leadoff walk, Stephen Pitarra followed with a bunt single and Josh McLain single to load the bases but unfortunately a called strikeout ensued to end the threat.
– Auburn carried that momentum over to the eighth inning when the squad pushed across five runs to pull away.
– The Wolfpack cut into the deficit scoring three runs in the bottom half and a run in the ninth.
– In his final collegiate at-bat, Shepard hit a three-run homer to right field, his 5thof the season, to make it a 13-6 game.
– After Auburn added a run in the top of the ninth, Jack Conley scored on an RBI single to right field by Bailey to make it 15-7.
Inside the Box Score
– Bailey led the Wolfpack at the plate with a 3-for-5 outing, highlighted by two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored.
– McLain and Pitarra were each 2-for-4, while Deatherage, Edwards and Shepard each had one hit.
– Freshman David Harrison earned the start on the mound and was relieved by Joe O’Donnell.
– O’Donnell went 2.1 innings with three strikeouts before handing the ball to Michael Bienlien, who threw 3.1 innings with four strikeouts.
– Connor Centala took over on the mound next and Nick Swiney pitched the final third of the game.
All but 1 of NC State’s 2024 MLB Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents have signed with their respective teams.
Center Fielder Eli Serrano III was drafted in the 4th round with the 111th overall pick by the New York Mets. He signed for $697,500, which was $41,400 more than the slot value for the pick. Serrano III had 2 more years of college eligibility, but opted to turn pro.
The #Mets signed 4th rounder Eli Serrano for $697,500. Slot value for the 111th pick is $656,400.
— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) July 22, 2024
View this post on Instagram
Shortstop Brandon Butterworth has signed with the Padres, who drafted him the 12th round with the 360th overall pick. Butterworth had one more year of college eligibility, but opted to turn pro.
Pitcher Sam Highfill has signed as an Undrafted Free Agent with the Phillies.
One chapter ends, another begins pic.twitter.com/SapbE4Ltqx
— Sam Highfill (@samhighfill11) July 25, 2024
Pitcher Logan Whitaker was drafted by the Twins in the 19th round with the 578th overall pick. He signed for $10,000.
An event that majority of people told me was nearly impossible. Here’s to the end of an era and a start to a new adventure. Time to get to work. pic.twitter.com/HdOsDmU6vB
— Logan Whitaker (@_whitaker_10) July 25, 2024
#Twins day three signings:
11R Michael Carpenter: $508,500 ($358,500 to bonus pool)
12R Christian Becerra: $150,000
13R Xavier Kolhosser: $150,000
14R Jacob Kisting: $125,000
17R Jay Thomason: $50,000
18R Michael Ross: $150,000
19R Logan Whitaker: $10,000— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) July 25, 2024
3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz signed as an Undrafted Free Agent with the White Sox.
1st Baseman Garrett Pennington signed an Undrafted Free Agent Deal with the Tigers.
Shortstop Devin Fitz-Gerald, who was going to be an incoming Freshman in 2025, was drafted by the Rangers in the 5th Round. He signed his deal, with a signing bonus worth $900,000.
#Ranger signing bonuses, per source:
1 Malcolm Moore $3 million
2 Dylan Dreiling $1,287,600
3 Casey Cook $700K
4 David Hagaman $515K
5 Devin Fitz-Gerald $900K
6 Garrett Horn $250K
7 Rafe Perich $175K
8 Anthony Susac $200K
9 Keith Jones II $30K
10 Jake Jekielek $20K— Stefan Stevenson (@StefanVersusTex) July 25, 2024
Catcher Jacob Cozart was drafted by the Guardians in the 2nd Round with the 48th overall pick. He has yet to sign his deal. The slot value for his deal is $1.94 million. Cozart has 1 year of college eligibility remaining, but there’s no expectation that he will be returning next season for the Wolfpack.
NC State Baseball
Baseball America Ranks NC State Baseball 13th in Their Way-Too-Early 2025 Preseason Top-25
Baseball America has released their Way-Too-Early 2025 Preseason Top-25, and they ranked NC State 13th.
13. NC State (38-23, 18-11)
The Wolfpack rolled through the second half of the 2024 season to reach the CWS for the second time in four years. They now must replace several key pieces of that team, including All-Americans Jacob Cozart and Alec Makarewicz. That duo is just part of six regulars that were lost from the lineup.
While NC State is reloading offensively, it brings back a good bit of its pitching staff. The dynamic relief combination of Jacob Dudan and Derrick Smith is back, as are lefthanders Dominic Fritton and Cooper Consiglio. NC State never lacks for offense and as long as its newcomers click, it should be well positioned for 2025. (BA)
ACC Teams in the Top-25
3) FSU
4) Clemson
6) UVA
9) Duke
12) UNC
13) NC State
25) Wake Forest
San Diego Shortstop Justin DeCriscio is transferring to NC State!
View this post on Instagram
DeCriscio played his first 3 seasons at San Diego, and will play his final year of eligibility with the Wolfpack.
This past year, DeCriscio hit .308 for the Toreros, with 42 RBI’s, 36 Runs and 10 Stolen Bases. He earned All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention the past three seasons.
