After splitting a pair of midweek games, the NC State baseball team must shift its focus to a tough slate of weekend games.
The Wolfpack (5-3) started its week with an 8-2 win over UNC-Greensboro on the road, but then turned around and lost to Charlotte, 6-5.
This weekend brings the annual Irish Classic, hosted by the Notre Dame baseball program and the USA Baseball Training Complex. While the Wolfpack will only play one game at USA Baseball Complex on Saturday, its home games on Friday and Sunday will nonetheless count toward the Tournament results.
NC State will start the weekend with an afternoon tilt against Rhode Island on Friday, followed by a game against Maryland on Saturday at the USA Baseball Complex, and then finish on Sunday with a home game against UMass-Lowell.
The Wolfpack will also play a nonconference home game on Monday against Western Carolina, the culmination of the four-game slate.
Friday’s game against Rhode Island will pit the Wolfpack’s pitching staff against the weak Rams’ lineup. The Rams have only scored 26 runs in seven games, good for 3.7 runs per game. The Rams are led by redshirt junior second baseman Chris Hess, who is hitting .393 with two triples and a home run this season.
Wolfpack hitters will undoubtedly see junior ace left-hander Tyler Wilson (0-1, 9.39 ERA) on the mound for the Rams. Don’t let the record and ERA fool you, Wilson will be a tough matchup for Wolfpack hitters. Just ask South Carolina, who lost to Wilson in the first game of the Columbia Regional last year behind a 125 pitch performance from Wilson.
According to Baseball America, Wilson is the Atlantic 10 Preseason Pitcher of the Year and the No. 65 ranked college prospect for the 2017 MLB Draft. Expect him to give the Wolfpack hitters some trouble.
Saturday’s opponent, Maryland, has limped out of the gate, starting the season just 1-5. To be fair, four of those losses were road or neutral site games against LSU and Louisville, but the team has been outscored 54-25 this season.
Maryland has made the Super Regionals two out of the last three years and was picked by Big Ten coaches to win the conference this season.
Sophomore outfielder Marty Costes has paced the Terrapins on offense, hitting .423 with a double, a triple and three RBIs.
The Wolfpack will likely face junior right-hander Taylor Bloom (0-2, 14.4 ERA), who has been slaughtered this year by the talented bats of Louisville and LSU. Bloom has given up 12 runs in just five innings of work, surrendering 13 hits, five walks and two hit batsmen. The Wolfpack should have the upper hand, but expect another good game.
The third opponent of the weekend, UMass-Lowell, is a relative newcomer to Division I baseball. The River Hawks transitioned from D2 in 2014 and have been ineligible for postseason play as they wait for their transition period to end.
The transition has been rough to say the least. The River Hawks were 20-32 last season, posting a 5-19 conference record in the America East. The lineup returns just two players that hit over .250 last season.
This season has been a little kinder to the squad. The River Hawks took one of four games against UConn to open the season, then won two of three games in the Davidson Tournament last weekend.
The lineup has improved thanks to the emergence of sophomore outfielder Chris Sharpe. After hitting .228 with one home run and 52 strikeouts last season, Sharpe has burst onto the scene, batting .375 with four home runs and eight RBIs in the early going.
The Wolfpack will likely face junior right-hander Andrew Ryan (1-0, 4.22 ERA) on the mound.
Finally, Western Carolina will be the Wolfpack’s last opponent on Monday. The Catamounts can score, as they average nine runs per game and put up 20 runs on Marshall earlier this season. Western Carolina also beat the defending champion Coastal Carolina on the road, 5-4, earlier this season.
Western Carolina has only three players on the team batting under .300 but has struggled mightily with pitching. The Catamounts have an 8.56 team ERA having allowed 58 earned runs in 61 innings this season. Expect a high scoring affair in this one.
The Wolfpack will have another opportunity to get its starting rotation set this weekend but it will be without left-handers Brian Brown and Cody Beckman, both of whom will be unable to start due to injury.
With only one week left before ACC play begins, the pressure is mounting on the Wolfpack to end the tournament with a strong showing.
