After Falling Out of the Top-25, NC State has a Chance to Make a STATEment Against #13 Coastal Carolina

After losing all 4-games last week, NC State’s Baseball team (12-6) fell out of the Top-25, and understandably so. Tonight, the Wolfpack have the opportunity to make a STATEment against #13 Coastal Carolina (17-3) at the Doak.

You would like to think that this past week was a fluke, but there is no denying there are some areas where NC State needs to right the ship. The Wolfpack currently rank 11th in the ACC in runs scored, and 3rd in the ACC in runs given up.

A win against Coastal tonight would be huge step in showing that last week was just a bad week, but it won’t be an easy task.

The Chanticleers have won 16 of their last 17 games. Coastal has played 2 ACC opponents already, losing to Duke (then ranked 12th) 3-5, and defeating #7 Wake Forest 17-9.

Here’s a look at their offense.

2nd Baseman Blake Barthol leads the Chanticleers in pretty much every offensive statistical category. He ranks 1st nationally in Runs (35), 4th in Home Runs (12) and 10th in RBI’s (32).

3rd Baseman Sam Antonacci is tied with Barthol as the national leader in Runs.

If you just look at their Top-5 batters, the Chanticleers are swinging a really good bat to start the year. Five starters batting .350+. Four batters with a Slugging Percentage of .700+.

Josh O’Neill will be on the mound for Coastal, entering the contest with a 1-0 record, and a 4.11 ERA. His previous two starts have not been stellar, giving up 5 runs in 7.1 innings, while walking 7.

NC State will have Freshman Ryan Marohn on the mound, who enters the game with a 2-0 record, and a 4.24 ERA. He started the season in the weekend rotation, but that spot has been filled by Logan Whitaker now.