No. 13 NC State baseball takes on Georgia Tech in its third ACC series of the season March 23-25 at Doak Field at Dail Park.
The Pack (18-3, 5-1 ACC) is coming off of its biggest wins of the season after sweeping No. 10 Clemson in a three-game series in South Carolina, outscoring the Tigers 15-5. The series earned respect from the rest of the country, moving the Pack up 11 spots in the national rankings.
The Yellow Jackets (12-8, 2-4 ACC) were swept by Clemson earlier in the season, but then took 2 of 3 games against Virginia Tech the next weekend. Georgia Tech arrives in Raleigh already playing two games earlier in the week while the Pack is rested from its series last weekend.
A test for pitching
The pitching was the best it’s been this season against Clemson. Even without graduate starter Johnny Piedmonte, who has been having back issues, the Pack shut the Tigers down and will aim for a similar performance against the Yellow Jackets. Piedmonte’s timetable to return is unclear, but State will likely be more cautious with him this early in the season.
Senior lefty Brian Brown has been incredible for the Pack, posting a 4-0 record and an ERA of 0.54, which is good for ninth in the nation. Last Saturday against Clemson, Brown pitched six innings and only gave up one run.
This series will be another good test for a thriving pitching staff since Georgia Tech is ranked in the top 15 in hits and home runs so far this season. The pitching advantage here goes to NC State with the Yellow Jackets giving up almost five runs per game compared to less than three runs given up by the Pack.
Contagious hitting
There’s no doubt that the Wolfpack can hit. Up until ACC play, the competition was fairly low, but a 5-1 record in conference is no fluke. The Pack ranks in the top 10 in many major offensive categories including home runs, batting average, hits, on base percentage and slugging percentage.
Almost every starter is batting north of the .300 mark, including junior outfielder Brett Kinneman who is batting .371 with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs. Another bright spot is sophomore shortstop Will Wilson, who was named ACC Player of the Week last week and has brought his average up to .364 after a slow start.
Hitting shouldn’t be a problem in this series. NC State is ranked No. 10 in hits this season in Division 1; meanwhile, Georgia Tech is ranked No. 180 in Division 1 in hits allowed per game at 9.6.
NC State is on a five-game winning streak, including winning eight of its last nine games and outscoring the opposing teams 58-47 during that stretch. The series against Georgia Tech has the potential of a high scoring affair if the Pack pitching is not able to contain the Yellow Jackets.
The series starts at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Doak Field, followed by another 6:30 p.m. start on Saturday and the finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
