NC State Baseball
NC State Baseball. Is. On. Fire.
Usually State Baseball season follows the same pattern; Start off winning every game, before fading late and leaving the postseason early. The ability to close out seasons has single-handedly kept Avent on the preverbal hot seat. So maybe it was time they changed it up a bit…
The Wolfpack have now won 22 of their last 27, including 10 wins versus ranked opponents. Heading into the last series of the season versus Florida State (the #3 team in the ACC), here’s three fun facts about State.
- #4 ACC Record
- #2 Overall Winning Percentage
- Best Road Record
It’s borderline insane how good they’ve been, especially when you consider they lost 9 of their first 13 to open the season. Keep in mind, that month stretch was a solid slate of opponents. The bumps along the way have made for this smooth transition. Sweeping their last two series against ranked opponents? Offensively being one of the top teams in the country? Starting pitching all with just two loses each and team ERA cut in half compared to two months ago?
The Pack is now also listed in the Top-25 for both Baseball America and D1Baseball.
Avent Deserves Credit
This team has shown ZERO quit thus far. Start off the season about as worse as they have in the last 20 years, while also dealing with arrests and suspension of players that were meant to play key roles. Starting pitchers weren’t getting further than the fifth, bats were slow and the bullpen was a disaster (the jury is still out to some extent on if this bullpen could actually hold a game together late).
If any other team in the ACC, or even the rest of the country, started the season in a similar fashion, their record wouldn’t be hitting the .500 mark, let alone second best in the Conference. Avent is always a patient manager and understands his players to a T. He truly feels like the coach that personifies what it is to be part of the Wolfpack family.
Will this be the magical run that gets him over the hump for some hardware?
Current ACCT Outlook
The 2021 ACC Tourney will go with the following format; Round robin of four groups of three, with winners moving to Semifinals.
If the season were to end today, State would head in as the leader of Pool D with Louisville and Virginia Tech (would have been just about the least ideal situation a little while back). State controls their seeding destiny by playing Florida State to round out the season. With a sweep, they would move up to at least #3 for ACCT. A loss or two puts them right back into the mess of 14-16 loss teams.
We’ll cover all the scenarios later this week.
Until then, stay hot Pack, stay hot.
#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.
