After two blowout nonconference wins, consensus top-10 NC State baseball takes on an ACC Coastal foe in the Virginia Cavaliers. The Cavaliers (15-10, 5-4 ACC) travel to Doak Field with the momentum of a six-game winning streak, a run the Wolfpack (25-1, 8-1 ACC) will attempt to extinguish.
NC State has won nine of its last 10 contests, buoyed by an offense that ranks No. 6 in the nation in runs and leads the ACC by a wide margin. The Wolfpack averages an impressive 9.19 runs per game, and only gives up 3.13 earned runs per contest. Virginia’s offense is less potent but still powerful, ranking third in the ACC with 179 runs on the year, good for 7.16 per game. The same is true for the Cavaliers’ defense, which gives up an average of 4.14 runs per contest.
NC State freshman center fielder Tyler McDonough has been solid for the Wolfpack, leading the team with a .369 batting average and 41 hits. His Cavalier counterpart, Brendan Rivioli, leads his team batting .352 and is tied for the most hits, 32, with two teammates.
The Cavaliers are decent at the plate, but lack power. While NC State only has one more player batting above .330 than Virginia, it has three players with a slugging percentage higher than .642 while the Cavaliers don’t have a single batter above .545. The Cavaliers’ leader in home runs, Cameron Simmons, only has four on the year. Junior shortstop Will Wilson and senior first baseman Evan Edwards lead NC State with eight jacks each, and their combined total is more than Virginia has as a team.
NC State has proven that it can turn any game into a high-scoring contest, with double-digit runs in nine games with a high of 21. Virginia has six such games, and has never topped 20 runs. The Cavaliers may not be able to keep up with the Wolfpack, which has a good chance to sweep its third conference foe of the year.
NC State’s first game against Virginia begins Friday at 6:30 p.m., with game two on Saturday at the same time, and game three on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All three games will be carried by the ACC Network Extra.
