The NC State baseball team is off to a hot start in conference play as the team enters April with an impressive 23-5 record and a 9-3 ACC record, tops in the Atlantic division. The Pack has yet to drop an ACC series, winning four straight, including a series win at Virginia Tech this past weekend, behind a potent offense and solid pitching. Here are some takeaways from the first month and a half of the season:
The offense is really, really good
This has been fairly obvious since the beginning of the season, but the Pack’s bats have stayed hot. Junior outfielder Brett Kinneman has cooled down since his incredible start, but he still has 12 home runs, good for second in the NCAA, and his teammates have picked up where he left off.
Sophomore shortstop Will Wilson is slashing a ridiculous .324/.427/.581 and boasts 18 walks to 17 strikeouts, a testament to his excellent plate discipline. Freshman second baseman J.T. Jarrett has filled in for senior Stephen Pitarra, who was out for a month with an injury, by hitting a team-high .356. Senior right fielder Brock Deatherage has rebounded from his disappointing junior year by slugging .510 with five home runs and 16 RBIs. Junior first baseman and junior college transfer Evan Edwards is slugging .612 in his first year with the team, second only to Kinneman’s ACC-leading .750 slugging percentage.
The Wolfpack lost two infield starters to the MLB Draft last season in Joe Dunand and Evan Mendoza, but the offense has somehow managed to get better this season.
Bullpen has been better than expected
Coming into the year, there were questions about how effective the bullpen was going to be. Redshirt junior Austin Staley made 31 appearances in relief and logged a 3.59 ERA in 2017, but has yet to make an appearance in 2018 due to injury.
Freshmen Reid Johnston and Nick Swiney have been excellent out of the bullpen in their first year of college baseball. Johnston picked up the win against Virginia Tech Saturday and now owns a 1.80 ERA in 25 innings with four saves while Swiney has a solid 2.05 ERA. Sophomore left-hander Kent Klyman, redshirt junior Nolan Clenney and redshirt senior Joe O’Donnell are other relief options that have earned head coach Elliott Avent’s trust coming out of the bullpen.
Piedmonte and Brown
There aren’t many other starting pitching duos in the country better than graduate student Johnny Piedmonte and senior Brian Brown. Piedmonte has a 2.93 ERA in 30.2 innings of work while Brown has a microscopic .41 ERA in 43.2 innings, the best among ACC starters. The two veterans of the team have paced the pitching staff all season long and made up for the lack of a consistent third weekend starter.
This team needs a third weekend starter
Behind Piedmonte and Brown, the Pack has yet to find a mainstay in the weekend rotation. Sophomore Michael Bienlien had another tough outing in his start against Virginia Tech Thursday. Freshman left-hander David Harrison has recorded five starts, but owns an unsightly 8.69 ERA in 19.2 innings. Sophomore Mathieu Gauthier has a 4.01 ERA in two starts and could potentially lock down the open spot.
Finding a third weekend starter would fix the team’s most glaring flaw at this point, but the team has figured out how to win due to its high-powered offense.
