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NC State Baseball

NC State’s Avent COY, While Four Players Move Up Draft Boards

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Lots of attention put on the future of the State football program this week, but baseball got A LOT of love too.

 

Avent College Coach of the Year Award

After State’s run to the College World Series, and leading Team USA throughout the summer, Elliott Avent was named College Coach of the Year.

A year in which he went to his second College World Series, saw a dozen players get drafted and received the Regional Coach of the Year award, Avent has proved he can grow the program to be something special. Avent currently is sitting at 926 victories, while having coached 37 All-Americans.

 

Players Creating Buzz

This week, Perfect Game USA talked 2022 Draft, in which they game love to four Wolfpack members.

Sam Highfill: Just with CWS performance alone, Highfill has become a legend in Raleigh. 2021 saw him go 9-2 with a 3.66 ERA. A near 4-1 K-BB ratio, batters hit .224 off of him. Ironically enough, while he is a pitching stud, his 3 for 4 performance BATTING, is what got folks in WPN buzzing during the Pack13 game. There is no doubt, with another solid season, Highfill’s name could be rocketing towards the top of scouts’ list.

Chris Villaman : Used more as a long reliever for parts of last season, Villaman should get the day two nod behind Highfill this year. He ended up with a 5-2 record and 4.35 ERA last year, while holding batters to .204 BAVG. His aggressive pitching nature leads to a solid 5-1 K-BB ratio. Should be fun to see what he can do as a starter this year.

Josh Hood: Hood is one of many new transfers to the program, and might be the one with the most buzz. In his freshman year at Penn, he was the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year, going .331, 8 HRs, 42 RBIs with 25 extra-base hits. Unfortunately, with Ivy Leagues shutting completely down for COVID, Hood was forced to stay fresh in Coastal Plains and Cape Cod League. If he can get back into a groove, he’ll provide the perfect replacement for Torres at short, while giving ample pop to this lineup.

Dom Pilolli: Another transfer, this time from UNC-Charlotte. Outfielder that, similar to Hood, had a ridiculous freshman campaign. Pilolli made the Freshman All-American team with hitting .403 (!), which was sixth-best among freshman nationwide. Slowed down a bit his second year, before a season-ending injury. There is no doubt that he’ll; A) Create highlight reel catches in left field and B) Provide a steady bat in Avent’s lineup.

 

 

NC State Baseball

NC State is Back in the Top-25 After Three Top-25 Wins Last Week

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After 3 Top-25 wins last week (1 over Coastal Carolina & 2 over Duke), NC State’s Baseball team is back in the Top-25 in 4 of the 5 polls. Last week was the only week that the Wolfpack hasn’t been ranked all season, after losing 1 game to UNCG, and losing all 3 at Georgia Tech.

USAToday Coaches Poll – #22

D1Baseball – #22

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Baseball America – #25

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NCBWA – #25

 

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NC State Baseball

NC State Loses Series Finale 2-13, but Wins Series vs. #9 Duke

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NC State lost the series finale 2-13 yesterday, but won the series against #9 Duke.

Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz was the sole source of offense, knocking in both runs on two solo Home Runs. A-Mak now has 10 Home Runs on the year. Makarewicw’s batting average is .359, and his OPS is 1.226.

Sophomore Dominic Fritton’s struggles continue, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) in 4 innings, striking out 5. His ERA on the season is 8.37, with a 1-2 record.

Fritton isn’t the only pitcher that struggled.

Senior Hollis Fanning gave up 5 runs in 2.1 innings in relief. His ERA in the year is 7.30.

Junior Carson Kelly gave up three runs in 0.2 innings pitched. His ERA is 27.00 in 2 appearances.

Despite losing in this way in the finale, NC State had a heck of a week, beating #13 Coastal Carolina in a midweek game, and taking 2 of 3 against #9 Duke.

The Wolfpack will look to get revenge tomorrow night at 6pm against UNCG. Two weeks ago, they lost to the Spartans 3-18 in a midweek game.

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NC State Baseball

NC State Secures Series Win Against #9 Duke With a 9-8 Walk-Off Victory Over #9 Duke

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After pulling off heroics in the 8th inning last night, NC State decided to make it even more exciting last night, shifting their heroics to the bottom of the 9th.

With #9 Duke leading 8-3 in the Bottom of the 9th inning, the Wolfpack would need a miracle, and sometimes you get exactly what you need.

Sometimes a miracle starts with a little bit of luck. With 1 out, Sophomore Josh Hogue grounded into a fielders choice, where as a result of an error, he ended up at 2nd, Senior Noah Outfielder Soles ended up at 3rd and Junior Shortstop Brandon Butterworth ended running across home plate.

Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington would then hit a 3-run Home Run, cutting Duke’s lead to 2.

With 2 outs left, Sophomore Center Fielder Eli Serrano III hit a 2-run walk-off bomb, giving NC State a 9-8 series clinching win over #9 Duke.

Senior Starting Pitcher Logan Whitaker wasn’t great, but he wasn’t terrible either. He gave up 4 earned runs in 4 innings pitched.

Junior Win Scott pitched in relief for the first time since February 28th, giving up 2 earned runs in 1.2 innings pitched.

Freshman Heath Andrews was up next, pitching for the first time since March 10th, giving up 2 earned runs in 2.1 innings pitched.

Sophomore Derrick Smith picked up his first Win of the season, pitching a scoreless 8th inning.

Pennington, Serrano III and Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart all had 2 hits apiece.

Pennington had 2 Home Runs and 4 RBI’s, giving him 5 on the year.

Serranno III and Soles each had 2 RBI’s apiece, both coming off of Home Runs.

After falling out of the Top-25 on Monday, NC State has won 3 straight games against Top-15 opponents, and they will look to make that 4 straight tomorrow as the Wolfpack and Blue Devils close out the series at 1pm.

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NC State Baseball

NC State Wins Series Opener Against #9 Duke Behind a Solid Highfill Performance

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NC State is rebounding in a major way this week. After losing all 4 games last week (Midweek vs. UNCG & swept at GT), the Wolfpack defeated #13 Coastal Carolina in a midweek game, and defeated #9 Duke 4-3 in the series opener tonight at home.

The Wolfpack were carried by a solid outing by starter Sam Highfill, who gave up 3 runs over 7 innings, while striking out 8. Highfill is now 2-1 with a 4.70 ERA.

Freshman Jacob Dudan continues to impress, picking up the Save, throwing 2 scoreless innings. Dudan now has 3 Saves on the year, and is rocking a 2.70 ERA.

With the game tied 3-3, Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 7th, knocking in Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz.

The other 3 RBI’s weren’t exciting in nature, with Sophomore Left Fielder and Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington bringing in Runs on groundouts, and Freshman 2nd Baseman ushering in a Run with a Walk with the bases loaded.

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