NC State Baseball
#13 NC State Blanks Heels 11-0, Clinches Series
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In a nationally-televised rubber match between a pair of top 15 in-state rivals, No. 13 NC State baseball shut out UNC-Chapel Hill, 11-0, on Saturday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Wolfpack plated two runs in the first and the rest was history, as it improves to 41-15 overall and 18-12 in ACC play. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels fall to 38-17 on the year and 17-13 in conference action.
With Today’s Win, NC State…
-Clinches its first series win in Chapel Hill since May 20-22, 2004.
-Earns its first series win over the Tar Heels since May 19-21, 2016, which was contested at Doak Field.
-Locks up the No. 3 seed for the second-straight season in next week’s ACC Championship.
-Tallies the most regular-season wins since 2013 when the Pack finished with 42. The team went on to finish 50-16 and make a College World Series appearance.
-Collects its seventh ACC series win of the season. Including nonconference opponents, the Pack has won 10 series this year.
-Earns its first shutout win over the Heels since May 8, 2009 (a 3-0 win in Raleigh).
Avent’s Additions
“I’m really proud of this club. This was a big game,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “Four teams were in a tie for third in the standings heading into today. It was a big game especially after Thursday. Thursday’s game was tough. It felt like we had some control with a 3-2 lead but a couple of things in the seventh didn’t go our way.
“To bounce back like we did against a ball club like Carolina in Chapel Hill where they play very well was big. I’m just really proud of our guys.”
Quick Hits
-NC State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Edwards opened the scoring with a double off the left field wall, plating Will Wilson after he took first on a one-out walk and advanced on Patrick Bailey’s single to center field and an error.
-Tyler McDonough’s groundout to the pitcher’s mound brought the second run across.
-After a scoreless second inning for both teams, the Pack put up five runs in the third on four hits and two errors, extending its lead to seven.
-Bailey drove the first two runs in with a double up the left field line for his second hit of the day. Edwards then laced an RBI single to center field for the third run of the frame.
-An errant throw on a fielder’s choice followed by J.T. Jarrett’s single up the middle brought the final two runs across.
-Three innings later, the Red & White tacked on four more runs via base hits by Devonte Brown, Dillon Cooper and Butler and a sac bunt by Jarrett.
Inside The Box Score
-Edwards went 3-for-5 at the plate, while Bailey went 2-for-5 and Brown collected two hits in his four at-bats.
-Bailey, Edwards and Jarrett all drove in two runs apiece.
-Five pitchers contributed to the team’s fifth shutout win of the season.
-Nick Swiney collected his seventh win of the year on the mound as he pitched 2.2 innings in relief and yielded two hits.
On Deck
NC State will begin postseason play next week in the ACC Championship at the Durham BullsAthletic Park in Durham, N.C. The Wolfpack will be the third overall seed and will face No. 6 Florida State and No. 10 Wake Forest in pool play. Game times will be announced Sunday morning.
#21 NC State is coming off of a series victory over UNC this past weekend, and a loss to #7 ECU on the road last night. Where does NC State project to land in the 2024 NCAA Tournament?
The Wolfpack have already seen the Pirates twice this season, but according to D1Baseball and Baseball America, they might not be done playing ECU. Both of them project NC State to be a #2 seed in the Greenville Regional, with D1Baseball projecting the Pirates as the #6 seed and Baseball America projecting them as the #8 seed.
NC State has plenty of baseball left to play, with series against UVA (#14), FSU (#10) and Wake Forest (#8). If the Wolfpack can handle business in 2 of those 3 series, you could make an argument for NC State hosting their own regional.
D1Baseball
Baseball America
#21 NC State lost to #7 ECU 6-10 on the road this evening in a midweek game. As a result, the Pirates have won both games against the Wolfpack in 2024.
When you record 10 hits and score 6 runs, you would hope that’s enough offense to win a baseball game.
Unfortunately the Wolfpack pitching staff was unable to contain the bats of the Pirates, allowing ECU to put 15 hits and 10 runs in the Box Score.
Kudos to Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz for making a STATEment in his return to Clark-LeClair Stadium. A-Mak transferred to NC State from ECU this offseason. This evening Makarewicz was 2-4 with 1 RBI, 2 Runs, and 1 Walk.
A-MAK 👏 ON 👏 THE 👏 ATTACK 👏#Pack9 | @Alec_mak99 pic.twitter.com/7Lps43hXow
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 23, 2024
A-Mak’s Home Run was a part of back-to-back-to-back Home Runs in the Top of the 3rd for the Wolfpack, with Sophomore Right Fielder Josh Hogue and Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart also hitting bombs.
Hogue Homer 💪#Pack9 | @JoshHogue5 pic.twitter.com/CMV3rCQu4B
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 23, 2024
‘Zart completes the trifecta 🤌 pic.twitter.com/gipiWvbcFb
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 23, 2024
NC State will look to flush this loss, and get ready for a 3-game series at home this weekend against Ball State.
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.
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.
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