NC State Baseball
NC State Takes on Top Team Vanderbilt
Is everyone good? Have a nice weekend? NC State started things off in just about the most perfect of ways. A 10-4 takedown of Stanford, means State enters the winners bracket and will face Vanderbilt, Monday night. Vandy came into the CWS as the odds-on favorite to win it all.
How They Got Here
Just a quick refresher for State…They beat the #1 team in the country IN Fayetteville…Then smacked around Stanford 10-4 with dingers and hits and awesomeness….not a big deal *brushes off shoulders*.
Vanderbilt has had a bit of an adventure to get here. In the Super Regionals they hosted ECU, winning both games 2-0 and 4-1. The matchup with the Pirates was a close one, and ask anybody at ECU or that watched the game, the strike zone was…well…favorable for the Commodores. Vanderbilt then needed extras in their opening CWS game against Arizona. A 12th inning single by Gonzalez brought in the winning run, of a 7-6 ballgame.
The Matchup
Vanderbilt has the best 1-2 pitching core in all the land. Rocker got a ND in Game 1, so onto the hill goes Jack Leiter for Game 2. Both Rocker and Leiter, by the way, could go within the top five picks of this year’s Draft. Sophomore Jack Leiter has gone 10-3 on the year and has arguably had a better year than Rocker. A 2.16 ERA, a total of 2 doubles and no triples against and better than a 3-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. When opponent batting averages are .127, that’s saying something.
Commodores are solid hitting team too. While Carter Young, Dominic Keegan and Isaiah Thomas have great home run power, the team excels in small ball action. Bradfield Jr, has 46 stolen bases on the year and will 100000% test Tresh.
Highfill will take the mound for the Wolfpack. If you call Leiter a “mature sophomore”, I have no idea what you’d classify freshman Highfill. In his last four games…
2-Seed Clincher against FSU: 6 IP | 8 H | 2 ER | 6K
ACC Tournament against GT: 6.1 IP | 4 H | 1 ER | 5 K
Regionals against LA Tech: 5.1 IP | 5 H | 0 ER | 4 K
Super Regionals against Ark: 6.1 IP | 2 H | 3 ER | 5 K
ALL MUST WINS AND ALL WERE WINS!!!
As for the State lineup, they just need to keep doing work. Wolfpack thrive when they have a balanced attack of home run power and small ball scoring. The game versus Stanford was the best example possible. Got up early on the PAC-12 Pitcher of the Year and then provide insurance late.
State
Batting Average: .289
Runs Per Game: 7.09
Field Percentage: .982
Pitching ERA: 5.08
Road/Neutral Record: 23-6
Vanderbilt
Batting Average: .297
Runs Per Game: 7.13
Field Percentage: .975
Pitching ERA: 3.36
Road/Neutral Record: 16-9
Dream Scenario
Honestly? Take the Stanford game and do it all over again haha. In Leiter’s losses this year, he’s only given up 3, 4, and 3 runs. You are only going to get so many opportunities for a hanging pitch or to advance the runners, have to capitalize. Furthermore, need to get another pitching performance out of Highfill, to get into the 6-7th inning area. AND NO DAMN FIELDING ERRORS! This will 100% have to be the gritty underdog kind of win we saw against Arkansas.
Dream Scenario: State manufactures 3 runs against Leiter and then holds on for a 4-3 win.
Bad News Bears: Highfill finally has that off game and Vandy capitalizes. State gets run support but not enough, lose 8-3.
#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.
