NC State Baseball
NC State ACC Leaders at Regular Seasons End
Before NC State suits up for their first game of the ACC Tournament on Thursday, here’s a breakdown of which Wolfpack players finished in the Top 10 in the ACC in individual statistical categories.
Senior outfielder Josh McClain finished the regular season as the ACC leader in hits (83).
Junior outfielder Brett Kinneman finished 2nd in home runs (17), and Sophomore shortstop Will Wilson & Senior outfielder Brock Deatherage finished tied for 7th (14).
Kinneman led the ACC in RBI’s (60), was 2nd in triples (4) and total bases (133), 3rd in slugging percentage (.630), 8th in walks (42) and 10th in runs (48).
Wilson finished 6th in RBI’s (50), 3rd in total bases (128) and 7th in slugging percentage (.598).
Deatherage finished 8th in total bases (116) and 10th in slugging percentage (.566).
Freshman catcher Patrick Bailey finished 9th in slugging percentage (.571)
Freshman pitcher Reid Johnston finished 4th in wins, ending the regular season with an undefeated 7-0 record.
Senior relief pitcher Joe O’Donnell led the ACC in saves (11).
Sophomore pitcher Kent Klyman held his opponents to a batting average of .194 in 29 appearances (ranked 6th in appearances), ranking 3rd.
Senior pitcher Brian Brown pitched 87.1 innings, ranking 7th.
The 2024 ACC Baseball Tournament will kickoff on Tuesday, and the schedule is out.
#3 seed NC State will play #10 seed Virginia Tech at 7pm on Wednesday, and then they will play #5 seed Duke on Thursday at 7pm.
Each team in each Pool will play each other once, and the team with the best record will advance to the Semifinals. If there is a tie, the higher seed will advance.
Back at the end of March, the Wolfpack beat the Blue Devils in 2 out of 3 games at Doak Field, when Duke was ranked 9th in the country.
In Game 1, NC State won 4-3. Sam Highfill picked up the W with a Quality Start of 7 innings pitched, giving up 3 earned runs, while striking out 7. Freshman Jacob Dudan picked up the Save pitching 2 hitless innings, while striking out 3. Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart’s RBI Single in the Bottom of the 7th brought in the winning run.
In Game 2, Sophomore Center Fielder Eli Serrano III hit a walk-off 2-Run Home Run to give the Wolfpack a 9-8 win over Duke, securing the series victory. The Wolfpack were trailing 8-3 heading into the Bottom of the 9th inning, but scored 6 Runs in the final frame. Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington had 2 Home Runs in the game, and Senior Outfielder Noah Soles had one. Senior Logan Whitaker got the starting nod, and gave up 4 earned runs in 4 innings, striking out 4. Sophomore Derrick Smith picked up the Win, pitching a scoreless final frame, striking out 1.
All the games will be televised on ACC Network.
The NC State Baseball team is one of it the hottest teams in all of College Baseball heading into next weeks 2024 ACC Tournament. They currently rank 14th in the RPI. They are the #3 seed in the ACC Tournament. They have 4 series victories over Top-10 teams, and 5 over Top-12 teams.
In preparation for the postseason, go ahead and grab yourself a few NC State Baseball shirts from our friends over at BreakingT. These are older shirts from over at BreakingT, but still worth the snag. I’ll reach out to them to see if they can cook some new ones up.
If you click the hyperlink above, or any of the pictures of the shirts below, go to the dropdown menu on the top right, and select “Alphabetically, A-Z”, and you will find all 4 of these on on the first two pages.
The 2024 College Baseball Regular Season is over for all ACC teams, and the Pools have been set for the 2024 ACC Tournament that will kickoff next week in Charlotte, North Carolina.
NC State is the #3 seed in the Tourney, and they are in Pool C with #6 seed Duke, and #10 seed Virginia Tech.
Back at the end of March, the Wolfpack beat the Blue Devils in 2 out of 3 games at Doak Field, when Duke was ranked 9th in the country.
In Game 1, NC State won 4-3. Sam Highfill picked up the W with a Quality Start of 7 innings pitched, giving up 3 earned runs, while striking out 7. Freshman Jacob Dudan picked up the Save pitching 2 hitless innings, while striking out 3. Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart’s RBI Single in the Bottom of the 7th brought in the winning run.
In Game 2, Sophomore Center Fielder Eli Serrano III hit a walk-off 2-Run Home Run to give the Wolfpack a 9-8 win over Duke, securing the series victory. The Wolfpack were trailing 8-3 heading into the Bottom of the 9th inning, but scored 6 Runs in the final frame. Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington had 2 Home Runs in the game, and Senior Outfielder Noah Soles had one. Senior Logan Whitaker got the starting nod, and gave up 4 earned runs in 4 innings, striking out 4. Sophomore Derrick Smith picked up the Win, pitching a scoreless final frame, striking out 1.
In Game 3, the Blue Devils got the best of the Wolfpack, crushing them 13-2. Sophomore Dominic Fritton started the game, and gave up 4 earned runs in 4 innings, striking out 5. Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz was the only bright spot on offense, going 3 for 3, with a Home Run, 2 RBI’s and 2 Runs.
NC State didn’t play #10 seed Virginia Tech in the regular season this year.
Due to securing a Top-4 seed in the Tournament, NC State will not play on the opening day of the Tournament on Tuesday. Their 1st game will be against the Hokies.
The full schedule of the 2024 ACC Baseball Tournament will be released tomorrow. Stay tuned.
NC State Baseball
#17 NC State’s Late Game Heroics Strike Again, Defeating #8 Wake Forest 9-6 to Complete the Sweep
#17 NC State’s late game heroics continued this afternoon, defeating #8 Wake Forest 9-6 in dramatic fashion late in the game for the 3rd straight game, completing the sweep of the Demon Deacons.
With the game tied 6-6, the Wolfpack scored 3 runs in the Bottom of the 8th inning, that would end up being the winning runs. With 2 outs, Freshman Alex Sosa scored on a throwing error, and Senior 1st Baseman Garrett Pennington followed that up with a 2 RBI Double.
OUR LEAD!!!
The Pack takes advantage of a Demon Deacon error and jumps ahead 7-6! pic.twitter.com/E1J1zfZ3ZJ
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) May 18, 2024
KEEP ‘EM COMIN 📈@Garrettpenn14 boosts our lead to 9-6 after a two-run double! pic.twitter.com/WKU0hzS4vv
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) May 18, 2024
Senior Starting Pitcher Logan Whitaker gave up 5 runs (1 unearned) in 4 innings pitched, striking out 5, while walking none. Freshman Ryan Marohn was fabulous in relief, giving up only 1 earned run in 4 innings pitched, striking out 4. Marohn has been extremely dependable as a True Freshman. After picking up the Win today, he boasts a 4-2 record with a 3.60 ERA.
Sophomore Derrick Smith came in to close things out in the Bottom of the 9th, and in electric fashion, he struck out all three batters to pick up his 5th Save of the season.
How ‘bout that ninth frame from @DrockSmith22?
Three up. Three down. Three punchouts.
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/6pIoeDYPCE
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) May 18, 2024
Sosa had himself a day, putting the Pack on the board in the Bottom of the 2nd with an RBI Single, which was followed up by a Solo Home Run in the Bottom of the 6th inning.
Our freshmen are getting it done 💪@lukenix0n grabs our first hit of the day with a double to left and @ASOS131 brings him home with a single up this middle!
B2 | Pack 1, Wake 1 pic.twitter.com/EP5IvxALax
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) May 18, 2024
PREPARE FOR LIFTOFF 🚀@ASOS131 sends one 448 feet and OVER the scoreboard!
We’re tied up in Raleigh. pic.twitter.com/oCRU2rnbKZ
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) May 18, 2024
Pennington and Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart both had 3 RBI’s this afternoon. Pennington not only hit his 2 RBI Double in the Bottom of the 8th, but he also hit an RBI Single in the Bottom of the 5th. Cozart hit a 3-run bomb in the bottom of the 6th.
Battling back 💪@Garrettpenn14 brings home @eliserrano__ with a single up the middle!
B5 | Wake 5, Pack 2 pic.twitter.com/mh9QjfpcyZ
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) May 18, 2024
GOODBYE BASEBALL 👋⚾
We’re all square at #TheDoak after a three-run moonshot from Zart! pic.twitter.com/nZXIrA64w7
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) May 18, 2024
Sophomore Center Fielder Eli Serrano III and Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makerewicz also had multi-hit performances. Serrano III was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a Run, while A-Mak was 2 for 1 with a Run.
With the victory, NC State secured the #3 seed in this upcoming weeks 2024 ACC Tournament, and more than likely locked up a spot as a Regional Host in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.