Coming off a much-needed midweek win against Tennessee Tech, the NC State baseball team will travel to South Bend, Indiana, to take on Notre Dame in a three-game set this weekend.
The Wolfpack (32-10, 13-8 ACC) will look to get back on track after dropping seven of its last 10 games, including two straight ACC series losses, while the Fighting Irish (17-22, 10-11 ACC) are seeking their second straight ACC series win after taking two of three from Pitt last weekend.
Notre Dame ranks at 131 in RPI, second worst in the ACC to Pitt, due to its weak offense and a pitching staff with a propensity for surrendering runs. The Pack’s opponent this weekend certainly has its weaknesses, but the Fighting Irish still have 10 ACC wins and impressive series victories on the road at Clemson and Wake Forest.
Offense has been hard to come by for the Irish this season. Notre Dame has hit just 23 home runs (NC State has 55) while accumulating an OPS of just .697. The team doesn’t walk much and has been outscored by its opponents by 58 runs this season.
Despite the dearth of offensive production, Niko Kavadas has been a star for Notre Dame this season. The third baseman has nearly half of his team’s home runs with 10 and owns a robust .277/.368/.542 slash line. He leads the Irish in RBIs and total bases and is one of just two players on the squad with a slugging percentage above .400.
Kavadas has logged an unsightly .929 fielding percentage playing at the hot corner, but his bat is why he’s in the lineup, something the Wolfpack will need to be mindful of this weekend.
The Irish’s pitching staff has been equally as poor as the team’s bats, giving up double-digit runs in 11 of the team’s 39 games on its way to a poor 5.39 ERA. The Irish have three clear-cut starters in Tommy Sheehan, Cameron Junker and Cameron Brown.
Junker has been a victim of the long ball, giving up 11 this season, while Brown has been burned by free passes, walking 28 in 55.1 innings. Notre Dame has a couple of reliable relievers in Shane Combs and Tommy Vail, but the rest of the relief corps has been subpar.
The Wolfpack pitching staff has held its opponents to under five runs just once in the past nine games, a stark contrast from the first half of the season. Coming in and facing a below-average Notre Dame offense will give the rotation and bullpen a chance to get back to its early-season success.
This is a series the Pack should win and is important to its postseason positioning. With its last two series coming against UNC-Chapel Hill and Clemson, a sweep or even a series win should keep the Pack in the hosting conversation for regionals.
The first game will take place Friday at 6 p.m. at Frank Eck Stadium. Saturday and Sunday’s games are at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. All games will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Senior infielder Evan Edwards slides into first to attempt the tagout while leading. NC State beat Virginia 8-7 on Sunday, March 31 on Doak Field for the series win.
