NC State baseball took two out of three games from No. 11 Louisville this weekend to solidify its fifth straight ACC series victory of the season, and eighth straight dating back to last year.
The Pack (25-6, 11-4 ACC) has continued to rise up in the rankings since the season started. Last week, D1 Baseball ranked it at No. 8, up two spots from the previous week. After the series at Louisville, NC State sat ranked at No. 4 in the country.
In other major polls, NC State is ranked No. 2 by Perfect Game, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball and No. 6 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Wolfpack is looking like a major competitor in college baseball and these rankings are starting to take notice of how good this team is. The series win against Louisville showed parts of this team that are necessary for a deep playoff run.
Comeback kids
It’s not about how you start the game, but about how you finish. Head coach Elliott Avent’s team has shown resilience all season with its ability to comeback from deficits and bounce back after a loss. Saturday’s game against Louisville came down to the ninth inning with the Pack behind 6-5.
Junior outfielder Brett Kinneman is exactly who you’d want at the plate in this situation and he delivered with a three-RBI double off the wall in right field, and eventually scored to top off the 9-6 win. Kinneman went 4 for 12 with eight RBIs and scored five times in the three-game series. He leads the NCAA in RBIs and remains toward the top of the list for home runs.
The Pack lost the opener of the series for the third straight weekend, but found a way to bounce back and win the next two games of each series. This is the first time NC State baseball has ever accomplished that feat.
The bounce back ability is a sign of a mature and talented team. If the Pack is able to continue having that mentality, it will be very useful as the postseason approaches.
On the mound
The country knows that NC State can score with the best. The question has been if the pitchers can continue their early season success.
The pitching staff consists of four players with a sub-two ERA, and six players under a three ERA. All of these arms have thrown more than 10 innings this season, most of them more than 20 innings.
Led by senior Brian Brown, who has a 1.11 ERA good for top seven in the country and almost 50 innings pitched, the pitching rotation and bullpen have kept the explosive offense in the game at all times.
The Wolfpack travels to UNC-Wilmington on Wednesday to take on the Seahawks at Brooks field, before returning to Raleigh for a weekend series against Notre Dame at Doak Field at Dail Park.
