With Wednesday’s win over Valparaiso, the baseball team has won three straight, but in ACC play, which began last weekend against Maryland, N.C. State is 1-2.
A fact that already has coach Elliott Avent feeling a sense of urgency heading into this weekend’s home series against Virginia Tech — so much so that he referred to it as “vitally important.”
“We just got to start playing better baseball,” Avent said. “The main thing is that you don’t want to dig yourself a hole. You don’t want to dig yourself a hole in this conference with only eight teams going to the conference tournament.”
So far this season the Hokies are 12-6 overall and 2-1 in the ACC, after taking two-of-three games at then No. 21 Georgia Tech. In that series, Virginia Tech sent three senior starters to the mound in Greg Fryman, David Cross and Andrew Wells, with the Hokies getting the win in Fryman and Cross’ starts.
“I know they got senior pitching,” Avent said of Tech’s weekend rotation. “And they got good pitching.”
As for the Wolfpack (14-6), pitching has also been a plus for most of the season. But in the Maryland series, preseason All-American and staff ace Andrew Brackman allowed six runs and suffered his first loss of the season, which has Avent concerned about his big right-hander.
“I worry about everything. That’s part of being a manager,” Avent said. “And [Brackman] needs to be what he was from the fourth [inning] through the ninth [against Maryland].”
Despite taking the loss, Brackman did go all nine innings, allowing just one run after the third.
This weekend the Pack will again send the 6-foot-10-inch junior to the mound Friday and follow with sophomore lefty Eric Surkamp on Saturday. Redshirt junior Jeff Stallings will assume his normal Sunday duties as well.
In the field and in the batting lineup, though, State will be forced to make some changes due to the loss of senior infielder Vince Gutierrez to injury. In Wednesday’s win over Valpo, Gutierrez dislocated his shoulder diving for a ground ball and the early prognosis is not good for the Pack.
According to Avent, who said he hadn’t spoken to a doctor yet but had discussed the injury with the team trainer, Gutierrez will be out for a minimum of six weeks. Including Wednesday’s game, Gutierrez is batting .292 and is third on the team in runs scored.
“[This injury] hurts us tremendously,” Avent said. “He’s been one of our most consistent players all year. He plays the game the way it should be played every day.”
Last season State split a rain-shortened two-game series with the Hokies. As for Avent’s assessment on how this year’s team matches up with Tech’s?
“It’s going to be like any other ACC series,” he said. “It’s going to be a battle and we just got to find ways to win. It’s not about wanting it more, because wanting it more is kind of an overused saying. It’s more about what you are willing to do to come out with a win and how much you’re willing to sacrifice. And I hope our guys understand that.”