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

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2 years ago

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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.

 

 

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NC State Baseball

NC State Defeats Ball St. 9-3, Securing the Series Victory

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April 27, 2024

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Sophomore Dom Fritton was solid this afternoon in NC State’s 9-3 win over Ball State, securing the series victory. He gave up 1 earned run in 5.2 innings, striking out 4 (3 walks). The bullpen was solid, with Freshman Jaxon Lucas pitching 1 inning with no earned runs (1 unearned run), while Sophomore Shane Van Dam gave up 1 run in 2.1 innings, striking out 3. Fritton is now 3-3 on the year with a 6.89 ERA.

Sophomore Center Fielder Eli Serrano III had a 2 RBI Single in the Bottom of the 2nd, which gave the Wolfpack their 3rd run of the inning after Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz scored off a wild pitch.

In the Bottom of the 3rd, Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart hit a solo shot, his 11th Home Run of the year, which is a new career high.

In the Bottom of the 5th, the Wolfpack would tack on 3 more runs. A-Mak had an RBI groundout, Junior Left Fielder Chase Nixon had an RBI Single, and then he scored when his brother Luke was caught stealing.

In the Bottom of the 7th, Chase Nixon knocked in 2 more with an RBI Double. He also had this web gem in the Top of the 8th, which would have surely scored 2 runs without his diving effort.

The Wolfpack and the Cardinals will close out the series tomorrow at 1pm at Doak Field.

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#21 NC State Convincingly Wins Series Opener Against Ball State 10-2

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20 hours ago

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April 26, 2024

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#21 NC State convincingly defeated Ball State 10-2 in the series opener in Raleigh this evening.

Senior Sam Highfill pitched a Quality Start against the Cardinals, giving up 2 earned runs in 6 innings, while striking out 6. The Quality Start was Highfill’s 3rd of the season, and his record on the year is now 4-1.

Freshman Ryan Marohn was brilliant in relief, pitching 3 scoreless innings, giving up only 1 hit, while striking out 3. Marohn picked up his 1st Save of his collegiate career.

Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz was the Wolfpack’s Offensive MVP, going 2 for 4, with a Grand Slam.

Makarewica now has 17 Home Runs and 55 RBI’s.

Sophomore Right Fielder Josh Hogue, Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart, Junior Left Fielder Chase Nixon, Freshman 2nd Baseman Luke Nixon and Sophomore Matt Heavner all had an RBI apiece.

Junior Shortstop Brandon Butterworth was the only player besides A-Mak to have multiple hits, going 2 for 4 with a Double.

Game 2 is tomorrow at 3pm.

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NC State Baseball Bracketology Report Heading Into Series Against Ball State

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3 days ago

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April 24, 2024

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#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

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#21 NC State 6 #7 ECU 10: Box Score (with notes)

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4 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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#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’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.

NC State will look to flush this loss, and get ready for a 3-game series at home this weekend against Ball State.

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