Most college baseball coaches schedule tough early-season series, sometimes on the road, to prepare the team for the long grind through conference play that lies ahead. NC State head coach Elliott Avent decided to take that concept to the next level.
The Wolfpack will open its 2017 campaign on Friday night in the state of Hawaii, taking on the Hawaii Rainbow Warrior baseball squad. The Rainbow Warriors finished 23-30 in a Big West Conference that placed three teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Against better competition last year, Hawaii struggled greatly, going 4-11 in games against NCAA Tournament teams. The team also struggled at home, finishing seven games under .500 at Les Murakami Stadium.
Still, the team returns eight starters from the squad and is a threat to stun a Pack squad still early in the season.
If you are brave enough to stay up late into the night (first pitch for the opener on Friday night is at 11:35 p.m. EST), then you will be given your first look at the new Wolfpack. Gone are Preston Palmeiro and Andrew Knizner. In their place to provide offensive firepower are juniors Joe Dunand and Evan Mendoza.
Mendoza led the Wolfpack with a .362 batting average last season in a breakout campaign. Joining him will be Dunand at shortstop and a talented outfield led by junior Brock Deatherage, who led the team with 14 stolen bases.
The Rainbow Warriors can match the Wolfpack at the plate, as Hawaii averaged 4.08 runs per game last season. What the Rainbow Warriors didn’t do well in 2016 was hit for power. Hawaii hit only six home runs last season, with leading home-run hitter Matt LoCoco graduating.
The most interesting part of the opening series will be the performance of the rotation. Junior lefty ace Brian Brown will not appear in the opening weekend series, as he is being held out with forearm tendinitis. The coaching staff has said it’s precautionary and he could be ready for the home opener against Austin Peay.
Taking the hill on Friday night will be senior lefthander Sean Adler (0-1, 6.94 ERA in 2016), who was mainly a reliever last season. Adler will be in his second season with the Wolfpack after transferring from USC.
Another former reliever gets the call on Saturday night, as junior lefthander Cody Beckman (2-0, 6.05 ERA in 2016) gets the start. Beckman was selected in the 25th round by the New York Mets in the 2016 MLB Draft but didn’t sign.
In fact, the entire weekend rotation is made up of former relievers, as junior Tommy DeJuneas (2-3, 6.37 ERA) starts on Sunday. DeJuneas had several unsuccessful instances at being the Wolfpack’s closer last season, as he was never able to reign in his electric stuff.
The trio’s ERAs are a scary sight to behold, and if they can’t improve on their previous year’s performance, it could be a long weekend for the Wolfpack.
Like many seasons before, this season comes with high expectations for the Wolfpack. The Wolfpack is ranked No. 6 in the nation in the NCAA Baseball Preseason rankings and Baseball America predicted it to host a regional. For Avent and company, this is just another year, as his seasoned staff is used to competing at the highest level.
The highly anticipated season starts this weekend against a talented Rainbow Warrior team that can hit the leather off the ball. The Wolfpack will need to be sharp on the mound and in the field because it has the offensive firepower to leave Oahu with a clean series sweep.
Sophomore short stop Joe Dunand crushes the ball with the sweet spot of the bat in the Wolfpack's fourth game of the NCAA Raleigh Regional against Coastal Carolina at Doak Field on June 6, 2016. Dunand went 1 for 5 with 1 run in the 8-1 win over the Chanticleers to force a winner take all game.
