NC State baseball will host another nonconference game against Longwood Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Doak Field.
The Wolfpack (3-0) is coming off a very strong performance last weekend in a three-game series sweep against James Madison, its 13th consecutive nonconference series win. NC State’s offense was absolutely producing, led by junior infielder Devonte Brown and junior outfielder Jonny Butler, with the team bringing in 24 total runs by the end of the series.
Junior lefty Nick Swiney was also dealing in the series/season opener where he pitched seven shutout innings and fanned a career-high 11 batters. Longwood (1-3) dropped its first series of the season losing three out of four games at home against Purdue Fort Wayne.
Junior lefty David Harrison will start the game for the Wolfpack while righty Gage Williams will start for Longwood. Harrison posted impressive numbers last season with a 2.67 ERA and striking out 33 batters in 33.2 innings pitched. Last year for Longwood, Williams posted an underwhelming ERA of 13.03 and had a 0-4 record.
It’s not looking very good for Longwood who just gave up 37 runs in the past four games to a low D-1 opponent. A high-powered offense like NC State is likely to take advantage of this slow defensive start by Longwood. Despite putting up 22 runs in this four-game series, it was simply not enough to make up for the poor defensive performance. The best pitcher so far for Longwood has been John Gregory with an ERA of 4.76 and six strikeouts, but probably won’t pitch Tuesday since he just recently started Sunday.
Longwood’s offense has so far been led by outfielders Jack Schnell and Andrew Gorham. Schnell has posted an average of .462 and leads the team in RBIs with five. Gorham has an average of .429 with three RBIs and is tied for first with Schnell in hits with six. Senior leader for Longwood and shortstop Antwaun Tucker has started off slow for the Lancers with a .214 batting average and no RBIs.
Devonte Brown (.583) and Jonny Butler (.538) lead the team so far in batting average, both with seven hits each after the series against JMU. Butler and junior infielder Austin Murr have also hit the only home runs so far this season, Butler with a two-run bomb and Murr with a solo shot. Butler leads the team in RBIs as well with six.
The Wolfpack’s offense has shown to be decently deep with its batters, still managing to put up several runs despite two of the team’s best hitters, sophomore infielder/outfielder Tyler McDonough and junior catcher Patrick Bailey, struggling to find a groove. The younger talents of the team are showing promise as well with freshman infielder Jose Torres posting two hits with three RBIs and showing a strong defensive performance at shortstop. Freshman RHP/infielders Matt Willadsen and C.J. Neese also managed to hit RBI singles in their first collegiate at-bats. If the stars of the Wolfpack pick things up at the plate, the Wolfpack offense would look even deadlier than it already is.
NC State’s defense is showing promise as well, only allowing eight runs all weekend and shutting out JMU in the first game. Swiney absolutely showed out in an impressive starting job in game one while senior LHP Kent Klyman closed the first two games with ease. Freshman RHP Sam Highfill had a solid first collegiate appearance on the mound which earned him his first collegiate win as well.
The Wolfpack has also been successful in sitting batters down, compiling 30 strikeouts in only three games. David Harrison will start the game for the Wolfpack while Gage Williams will start for Longwood.
NC State’s potent offense and improved defense are likely to be too much for the previously 11-41 Longwood team Tuesday. The Wolfpack are 4-0 all-time in matchups against the Lancers.
The home game against Longwood will begin at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Doak Field and will be televised on ACC Network Extra.
