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NC State Baseball CWS Media Day Highlights

Published

3 years ago

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Friday, Austin Murr and Coach Avent met with media to talk about the road to Omaha and their chances in the College World Series. Below some highlighted quotes.

Austin Murr

It wasn’t hard to see the excitement and eagerness to play from Murr. With a grin that couldn’t go any further, “It’s been a remarkable week and surreal moment after everything that happened in Arkansas. No matter who I talk to on the team, everyone can’t believe we’re here. Just amazing to experience this unique opportunity.

The topic of conversation quickly turned to the Arkansas upset. After Game 1, most teams would have folded, State stayed strong. “We have unbelievable coaches with an experienced team. We’ve been through ups and downs and just put our head down and kept working. We had a rough stretch at the beginning of the year, but now we feel battle tested.”

After the year that Avent had with his father’s passing and the love that this team has for him, Murr talked about how special it is to win for him. With more emotion than any answer of the day, “That was our goal was to get to Omaha for him. Would have loved to have gotten him his first ACC Championship, but this became more important and we want to win it.”

Coach Avent

Right off the top, Avent made it clear the importance of this moment, “There’s no words to put into perspective what this means for the current players, former players…players that have made it before, those that unfortunately didn’t.”

Avent is a big proponent of soaking it all up in the moment, “We’ve done everything we could from ice cream to steaks. When it comes time to playing the game, we’ll play the game. Until then, enjoy it.” Further emphasis on the magic of Omaha, “The Masters will always be in Augusta, Omaha will always be home to College World Series.”

His pride for this team was evident in talking about how this group believes in the team concept. “Have to respect the game and compete. We have unbelievable leadership that has shown the young, inexperienced guys what it’s like to play at the college level.” With their resiliency, “You don’t do what this team has done over the last three months without players going out and getting it done. Think about where you’ve been and where you want to go, but focus on the now.”

There was also conversations about the exposure Omaha brings to the program, “It’s huge with a great recruiting class next year and now us working two years in advance. When you talk to a young player in high school and ask them if they want to play in Omaha, it definitely gets them excited.”

Do you find it magical that with the passing of your father, that this is where you’re at? “My dad meant the world to me. He only lived to watch us play and the Yankees.” Avent emotional, “I contribute a lot of my fight to him.”

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Passionate State fan that just wants to win...something...like anything...

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NC State Baseball

#22 NC State’s Loses 7-11 to Campbell in 12 Innings in Midweek Contest

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15 hours ago

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April 17, 2024

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#22 NC State Baseball continues to be a roller coaster ride to follow. After winning 2 out of 3 down at Clemson this past weekend, the Wolfpack lost 7-11 to Campbell in 12 innings last night.

NC State had their chances, leaving 19 batters on base (Campbell left 13). The Wolfpack trailed 7-2 heading into the bottom of the 8th, but they responded with 4 runs, cutting it to a 1-run game. In the bottom of the 9th, Sophomore Center Fielder Eli Serrano III hit a solo Home Run to tie the game to send it to extra innings.

Things went off the rails in the Top of the 12th. Serrano III almost made an incredible diving catch, but the ball popped out of his glove, which led to 2 Campbell runs. In the midst of the chaos, due to a throwing error on the play, a Camel runner advanced to third, and he was able to run across the plate on a groundout the very next at bat. A couple of batters later, with the bases juiced, NC State hit a batter, bringing across the 4th run of the inning.

Despite 2 errors, all 11 runs were earned runs. On the year, the ERA of NC State’s Pitching staff is 6.63, which ranks 2nd-to-last in the ACC. That’s a problem.

Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz was 2 for 5 with an RBI, 2 Runs and 2 Walks. Both of his Hits went for extra bases, with one being a bomb, and the other being a Double. The Home Run was Pennington’s 14th of the year. A-Mak’s batting .357, and his OPS is 1.188.

Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington was 3 of 6 at the plate, with 2 RBI’s, 1 Run and 1 Walk.

Pennington’s batting average is .366 and his OPS is 1.125.

NC State has now lost 3 straight midweek games.

The Wolfpack will look to regroup as their rival #11 UNC comes to town for a 3-game series this weekend.

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NC State Baseball

NC State Finds Their Way Back Into the Top-25 in 1 Poll After Series Win at Clemson

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2 days ago

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April 15, 2024

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NC State won 2 of their 4 games last week, winning 2 out of 3 against Clemson on the road this past weekend, and losing to UNCW on the road in a midweek game. Prior to the 2 victories against the Tigers, the Wolfpack had lost 5 straight games, suffering a sweep at Louisville the weekend before.

As a result of NC State’s big series victory at Clemson, the Wolfpack are back in Baseball America’s Top-25.

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NC State didn’t manage to crack the Top-25 for D1Baseball, Perfect Game or the USAToday Coaches Poll. The Wolfpack currently rank 31st in the Coaches Poll.

The NCBWA Poll hasn’t been released yet.

NC State will host Campbell tomorrow night at 6pm, which will be followed up by a series at the Doak this weekend against rival #11 UNC.

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NC State Baseball

Clemson Shuts Out NC State 7-0, but the Wolfpack Win the Series

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3 days ago

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April 14, 2024

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NC State didn’t pull of the sweep, falling to #2 Clemson 0-7 on the road this afternoon. Despite the loss, the Wolfpack did take 2 of 3 on the road against the team that entered the weekend ranked #1 in the RPI.

Freshman Cooper Consiglio got the start for the Pack today, and it’s a shame he was tagged with the Loss, because he pitched the first Quality Start of his career, giving up 2 earned runs in 6 innings pitched, striking out 3.

The bullpen didn’t help Consiglio today, with Freshman Heath Andrews surrendering 3 earned runs in 0.1 innings, while Sophomore Andrew Shaffner gave up 2 earned runs in 1.2 innings.

The Tigers limited NC State to only 2 hits, and they were singles by Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington and Junior Shortstop Brandon Butterworth.

The Wolfpack are now 20-13 overall, and 10-8 in conference play heading into a midweek game against Campbell at home on Tuesday night at 6pm. NC State currently ranks 3rd in the Atlantic Division.

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NC State Baseball

NC State Shuts Out #2 Clemson 4-0, Clinching the Series Against the Tigers!

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4 days ago

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April 13, 2024

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NC State (20-12) shut out Clemson (28-6) 4-0 this evening, clinching the series against the #2 team in the land on the road.

We’ve been waiting all year for Sophomore Dominic Fritton to return to form, and he picked a good time to do so, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings, striking out 6. The 5.2 innings is his highest of the season, and it’s the first time all season he has pitched, and the other team has scored 0 runs.

Fritton was followed by Freshman Jacob Dudan and Sophomore Derrick Smith, who kept the shutout alive. Dudan allowed 2 hits and 3 walks, but didn’t allow a run in 1.1 innings, and Smith didn’t allow a hit (1 walk) in 2 innings.

Pitching hasn’t been NC State’s strong suit in 2024, but it was tonight, against Sophomore Ethan Darden, who pitched a gem himself, giving up 1 earned run (3 unearned runs) in 9 innings, while striking out 5 (no walks).

Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz was 3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s and a Run.

The Wolfpack and the Tigers will close out the series tomorrow at 1pm.

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