The No. 2 NC State baseball team will return to Raleigh to take on Notre Dame this weekend at Doak Field.
The Wolfpack (26-6, 11-4 ACC) has yet to drop an ACC series this season, winning all five, and hasn’t lost a conference series since being swept by Boston College last season.
The ACC Atlantic Division is led by the Pack which sits one game ahead of Clemson. The Wolfpack swept the Tigers earlier in the season, but Clemson has dropped just two conference games since.
In Notre Dame, NC State gets a team that has scuffled to a 14-19 record overall and a 5-10 ACC mark, tied with Boston College for the worst record in the conference.
Despite the poor record, the Irish have shown that they are capable of beating good teams. The Fighting Irish own an impressive road series win over No. 19 LSU and a road conference series victory over Wake Forest back in March.
The series win against the Demon Deacons represents Notre Dame’s only ACC series win, and the Irish will have their hands full with the Pack’s offensive prowess this weekend.
The Irish do have a productive starter in Scott Tully, who has pitched to a 3.02 ERA in 44.2 innings this season but has just 27 strikeouts while walking nearly as many batters at 24. The team’s other two weekend starters, however, have not fared as well. Cameron Junker has logged a 6.44 ERA in 29.1 innings and Tommy Sheehan has started eight games to the tune of a 5.97 ERA.
NC State’s offense is arguably the ACC’s best, and Notre Dame pitchers may have some issues facing the likes of junior left fielder Brett Kinneman, sophomore shortstop Will Wilson and senior center fielder Josh McLain.
Much has been made of Kinneman’s production thus far, and it’s worth mentioning that he still leads the conference with 13 home runs and an absurd .742 slugging percentage. Wilson’s early season struggles are far behind him as he’s now slashing .308/.413/.538. McLain is hitting .324 with some pop (3 home runs, .448 slugging) and even more impressively, he has hardly ever struck out with just 14 this season.
Graduate pitcher Johnny Piedmonte struggled last weekend at Louisville, throwing just four innings and giving up four earned runs while walking three as the Pack dropped the series opener. Sophomore right-hander Michael Bienlien picked up the slack in the series finale, tossing 3.2 innings of one-run ball before handing it over to redshirt junior Nolan Clenney and freshman Nick Swiney for the win.
Senior left-hander Brian Brown continues to roll as he owns just a 1.11 ERA. If Piedmonte bounces back this weekend and Brown continues his dominance, another series win should be in order. Head coach Elliott Avent hasn’t found a prototypical third weekend starter, but the strategy of starting Bienlien with the bullpen ready to go has worked so far.
Notre Dame’s Nick Podkul has been a bright spot for the Fighting Irish this season, batting .345 with a .543 slugging percentage. He’s walked 22 times to just 15 strikeouts in 116 at bats.
The first game of the series will take place Friday at 6:30 p.m. with the second game Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and the series finale at noon Sunday.
