The NC State baseball team opens up its season this weekend with a trio of non-conference opponents from mid-major conferences as a part of a round-robin tournament between the four teams.
The Wolfpack opens with Villanova Friday, then faces Davidson Saturday and finishes with Appalachian State Sunday.
State is coming off a disappointing 2014 campaign that saw the team start the season ranked fifth in the nation, finish with a 32-23 record and suffer a disappointing first round exit from the ACC Tournament.
Expectations have dampened for the 2015 season as many new faces will make appearances in the lineup.
At this point of the season last year, there were talks of a parade in Raleigh. This year, the team plans to approach the season one game at a time.
“We’re just gonna take everything one step by step it’ll be a lot easier,” senior centerfielder Jake Fincher said. “We’re just gonna go with the flow and give it everything we got.”
The Pack’s first opponent of 2015 will be Villanova, a cellar-dweller in the Big East. The game will mark the second career start for sophomore right-hander Cory Wilder. Wilder made nine appearances in 2014, giving up seven earned runs in only 9 1/3 innings of work.
The Wildcats’ lineup boasts a couple of big hitters in second baseman Todd Czinege and first baseman Max Beermann. Czinege was a unanimous preseason All-Big East selection and started all 50 games last year. He was a freshman All-American selection and a second team All-Big East pick. Beermann is a masher who had 23 extra base hits in 2014.
Wilder will likely be opposed on the mound by either Max Almonte or Josh Harris, seniors with a ton of experience for ‘Nova. Almonte and Harris are both pro prospects that will be tough matchups for the inexperienced Wolfpack hitters.
The Wolfpack will welcome the Davidson Wildcats Saturday for the second game of the three-game weekend tournament. Davidson has moved from the SoCon to the Atlantic 10 for the 2015 season, and the team is expected to find success quickly in its new conference.
Davidson had its best season in school history last year, and despite the loss of co-SoCon Player of the Year Forrest Brandy, the Wildcats should be competing at a high level again this season.
Starting on the mound on Valentine’s Day for NC State will be freshman pitcher Evan Mendoza, a hard throwing right-hander from Sarasota, Florida. Mendoza will crack the rotation early with a chance to earn himself a spot for the rest of the season. He boasts a fastball in the upper 80s and went 7-1 with a 0.72 ERA his senior year of high school.
Head coach Elliot Avent declined to offer a starting pitcher for Sunday’s matchup against Appalachian State, stating inclement weather could cause a game cancellation and that he did not want any added distractions for that player.
App State and NC State met three times in 2014, with the Wolfpack sweeping the season series. However, the Mountaineers boast two of the top players in the Sun Belt and are expected to be much improved in 2015.
Leading the Mountaineers will be shortstop Dillon Dobson, a tremendous athlete who has great power. Along with outfielder Jaylin Davis, App State has a strong core of hitters that can give the Wolfpack pitchers fits.
With Fincher and fellow senior Logan Ratledge potentially out of the lineup this weekend due to injury, it will be curious to see who will provide offense for the Wolfpack.
The first few weeks will be an interesting time for the young State squad. The coaching staff will look to see which young pieces fit in the everyday rotation. Fans should expect an up-and-down start as players get acclimated to new roles.
