Previewing #13 NC State’s Opponent: Stanford

NC State’s final regular season series against Stanford begins tonight at 6 p.m. in Raleigh on ACC Network Extra. Here’s a brief look at the Cardinal.

Stanford is 25-23 overall and 9-18 in their first season as a member of the ACC, ranking second-to-last.

Sophomore Joey Volchko will take the mound for the Cardinal this evening. He enters the contest with a 3-3 record and an ERA of 5.97, with batters hitting .280 against him. As a team, Stanford ranks 16th in the conference in pitching, with a collective ERA of 6.61. NC State’s collective ERA of 4.94 ranks 7th.

On Friday, Junior Nick Dugan will start for Stanford. He is currently undefeated on the year with a 6-0 record and a 4.76 ERA.

The Cardinal is much better at hitting than pitching, ranking 6th in the ACC in team batting average (.301). The Wolfpack is batting .292 as a team, which ranks 8th.

Freshman left fielder Tatum Marsh boasts the best batting average on the team (.371) and is Stanford’s cleanup hitter. Marsh has three home runs.

Senior center fielder Ethan Hott is batting .350 with three home runs.

The Cardinal lost one of their best bats this week when senior shortstop Temo Becerra entered the Transfer Portal as a graduate transfer. Becerra was hitting an impressive .341.

Senior third baseman, who is Stanford’s leadoff hitter, might be the squad’s most impressive bat, boasting a batting average of .337 with 13 home runs.

Junior second baseman Jimmy Nati also has 13 home runs, with a batting average of .298.

Sophomore right fielder Brady Reynolds is hitting .310 with eight home runs.

Even though Stanford ranks last in the ACC in runs scored, they have plenty of bats in their lineup that can put up runs in a hurry if you’re not careful.