After a tough weekend in Louisville, the No. 13 NC State baseball team returns home to face archrival UNC-Chapel Hill in the season finale.
The Wolfpack will be playing for more than just in-state bragging rights, as the series has implications for the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament seeding for both programs.
With head coach Elliott Avent watching from home after being bitten by a copperhead, the Wolfpack was swept by the Atlantic Division-leading No. 5 Louisville Cardinals and their fearsome pitching staff.
The Wolfpack scored just three runs over the entirety of the three-game series, wasting good starts by junior Cory Wilder and sophomore Brian Brown on the mound. State has lost four straight games and six of its last seven.
Entering this weekend, the Wolfpack sits at 13-12 in ACC play, meaning winning two of three games this weekend will ensure that the team will finish no lower than fifth in the final conference standings, keeping them away from the dreaded elimination round of the ACC Tournament.
Baseball America currently projects NC State to host a Regional, and winning the series against the Tar Heels would in all likelihood ensure that projection of happening. However, hosting a Super Regional would probably take a lot more than winning this series.
Undoubtedly, the Tar Heels need this series more than NC State does. The Tar Heels currently sit at 12-15 in the ACC and are in a battle with Duke, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Notre Dame just to make the ACC Tournament.
The Tar Heels dispatched the Fighting Irish over the weekend, taking two of three in a crucial ACC series to improve their chances of making the field. The series win was their first since they took two of three from Virginia Tech in early April, a span that saw them lose four straight series to conference opponents.
The Tar Heels have several impressive hitters in their lineup, starting with junior outfielder Tyler Ramirez, who’s currently hitting .335 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs on the season.
Sophomore outfielder Brian Miller provides speed and consistency to the Tar Heels lineup, hitting .352 with 21 stolen bases in 26 attempts this season. The Tar Heels bullpen has been good this season, with seven different relievers posting sub 3.00 ERAs.
In the other dugout, sophomore third baseman Evan Mendoza has been a force in the Wolfpack lineup, having raised his average to .383 thanks to a 23-game hitting streak.
The pitching matchups should be fun to watch, with Wilder (3-3, 4.79 ERA) and junior RHP Zac Gallen (5-5, 2.93 ERA) squaring off on Thursday night. Brown (7-2, 2.83 ERA) will face sophomore righty J.B. Bukauskas (6-2, 2.86 ERA) on Friday night and junior left-hander Ryan Williamson (7-2, 2.86 ERA) will take on tall sophomore right-hander Jason Morgan (3-2, 3.86 ERA) in the season and series finale.
The Wolfpack has had the hitting all season long to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, and recently the pitching staff has caught up to the level of the batting order with the emergence of Williamson as a viable number two option in the rotation.
