NC State Baseball
NC State’s Bailey & Wilson Garner Baseball America Preseason Honors
RALEIGH, N.C. – Preseason All-America honors continue to file in for NC State baseball’s Patrick Bailey and Will Wilson, as they have been named to the Baseball America Preseason All-America Team announced on Monday.
Both earned a spot on the third team with Wilson earning his fourth Preseason All-America selection and Bailey claiming his third accolade ahead of the 2019 season. Wilson has been awarded the honor from each publication to announce (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball and Perfect Game).
Wilson put together a .307 batting average as a sophomore to go along with 53 RBIs and 15 home runs. He was one of seven Wolfpack players to claim All-ACC honors and one of four named to the first team.
The Kings Mountain, N.C., native made program history during the season by becoming the first NC State player to claim ACC Player of the Week honors three times in a season. Wilson hit 10 home runs against ACC teams, which tied for the third most in conference games and is the most among returning players. He was named one of 35 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, which is given annually to the top player in collegiate baseball.
Wilson was also selected to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, which is presented to the nation’s top shortstop. He was tabbed National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball and College Sports Madness, along with NCBWA National Hitter of the Week during the season.
He was recently tabbed one of the top 50 prospects for the 2019 MLB Draft by MLB Pipeline and spent last summer as a member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team (CNT).
Bailey was a unanimous Freshman All-America selection last season, claiming the honor from all five publications to announce the award, including Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Perfect Game.
The Greensboro, N.C., native turned in a stellar rookie season to earn ACC Freshman of the Year. Bailey led all freshmen in the ACC in batting average (.321), home runs (13), total bases (113) and slugging percentage (.604).
He was tabbed a Second Team All-ACC and ACC All-Freshman Team selection, in addition to being an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Region honoree. Bailey set the NC State freshman home run record with 13 long balls in his initial season, eclipsing the previous mark of 12 held by Colt Morton.
The switch-hitting catcher made history against William & Mary, when he became the first Wolfpack player to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game.
Bailey’s .604 slugging percentage led the Pack, was the fourth highest in the ACC and best for a freshman. He logged the second most multi-hit games on the team with 21 and also contributed 11 multi-RBI games, highlighted by two games with five or more RBIs. Bailey threw out 11 runners on the base paths and recorded a .983 fielding percentage.
NC State will open the 2019 season ranked No. 21 in the Perfect Game Preseason Poll, which marks the 17th consecutive season that the Wolfpack has either started or finished the year ranked among the top 25. The Pack hosts the Bucknell Bison on opening weekend, Feb. 15-17, for a three-game series at Doak Field at Dail Park.
2019 NC State Baseball season tickets are SOLD OUT, but fans can purchase general admission Mini-Packs, Family Packs and single-game tickets by visiting GoPack.com/Pack9tickets.
The Wolfpack will host its season kickoff event tabbed the ‘#Pack9 Party’ on Wednesday, February 13 prior to the men’s basketball game against Syracuse at 8 p.m. at PNC Arena. The event will take place in the Close-King Indoor Practice Facility from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
Fans will have the opportunity to meet the 2019 players and coaches, grab autographs from your favorite players and pick up the official 2019 Baseball poster! There will also be games, activities and more for the whole family.
To register for the 2019 #Pack9 Party CLICK HERE.