Spring break came and went for NC State students, but the Pack baseball team continued its early season schedule and opened up ACC play while campus was vacated for the week.
The Wolfpack (13-3, 2-1 ACC) continued to shine offensively over the break, going 5-2 and winning its first ACC series of the season as it faced Boston College.
Junior first baseman Evan Edwards has emerged as an important offensive weapon for head coach Elliott Avent’s team. The junior college transfer from USC Lancaster is batting .366 with a monstrous .756 slugging percentage. In just 41 at bats, he’s launched five home runs, batted in 12 runs and is equaling his walks with his strikeouts at 10 each.
Although Edwards has broken out in the early going, junior left fielder Brett Kinneman has easily been the most impressive player on the team. He’s batting an otherworldly .418 with a .494 on-base percentage and a .925 slugging percentage, a number that ranks third in the NCAA.
As a team, the Pack owns a .338 batting average, good for 10th-best in the NCAA. Needless to say, the team’s offense has been a bright spot.
The Wolfpack kicked off the break on March 3 by trouncing Campbell 21-4 at Doak Field. Sophomore shortstop Will Wilson, freshman catcher Patrick Bailey, Edwards and Kinneman all went yard against the Camels.
Edwards went a perfect 4 for 4 while Kinneman went 3 for 6 and added another double and two RBIs. Bailey drove in a team-high six RBIs in the contest.
Graduate right-hander Johnny Piedmonte only went three innings while surrendering three runs, but the offense was too much for the Camels to handle.
Unable to repeat with another offensive clinic, the Pack dropped a matchup with Canisius, 3-2, the next day. The Pack managed just two hits against Golden Griffins pitcher J.P. Stevenson while redshirt senior right-hander Joe O’Donnell was tagged with the loss after being charged with a ninth-inning go-ahead run by Canisius.
A game scheduled for March 6 against UNC-Wilmington was canceled, but NC State rebounded from the Canisius loss by topping Campbell for the second time in five days by a score of 4-1. The matchup represented the first road game of the year for the Pack as Avent turned to his bullpen to stifle the Camel bats.
Sophomore right-hander Michael Bienlien gave up a run in his two innings of work to start off the game, but freshmen Evan Justice, Reid Johnston, Nick Swiney, redshirt junior Nolan Clenney and sophomore Kent Klyman combined for seven scoreless innings in relief.
Senior right fielder Brock Deatherage scored three runs and stole two bases as NC State took care of business away from the Doak.
Boston College came to Raleigh two days later for the first conference matchup of the season for both teams. In the first game of the series the Pack snuck by the Eagles, using a two-out, eighth-inning home run from Wilson for its only runs of the game to win 2-1.
Senior left-hander Brian Brown went 7.1 strong innings, giving up just three hits and one run, which was unearned. Johnston earned the save for the Pack.
In the second game of the three-game set and the first of a doubleheader on Saturday, NC State’s offense exploded again as the Pack came out on top by a score of 13-7, the ninth time it has scored more than nine runs.
Piedmonte went just 1.2 innings and yielded three runs, but Wilson put out a 4-for-5 performance with two RBIs and a double to lead the offensive surge. The shortstop is now hitting .291 after a slow start to the season.
With the series win already clinched, the Wolfpack turned to freshman David Harrison on the mound. It was a rough outing for the lefty as he surrendered eight runs and six hits in just 2.1 innings. NC State managed to get back three runs late in the game, but the Eagles prevailed, 11-3.
It appears the Pack is still searching for its third weekend starter after Brown and Piedmonte, but the offense should continue to carry this team in conference play.
NC State will have its hands full when it faces Clemson for an ACC series in South Carolina starting Friday.
