" />
Emma Sheppard
Junior shortstop Will Wilson high fives senior first baseman Evan Edwards after hitting a home run against South Carolina on April 2 at the BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte. Wilson had one run for the Pack, who lost 10-8 to the Gamecocks.
NC State baseball has been going through a bit of a rough patch following the team’s excellent start. The team started the season 27-2 but has gone 2-6 beginning with the team’s midweek loss to South Carolina in Charlotte on April 2.
After the loss to South Carolina the team won its series against Boston College and has since lost five games in a row, a midweek game against Coastal Carolina and a weekend series sweep at the hands of Louisville after dropping the finale against the Eagles.
The Wolfpack (29-8, 12-6 ACC) has a chance to bounce back from this losing streak as the team travels to the coast to face UNC-Wilmington (20-17, 5-4 CAA). The Seahawks come into the game on the back of a weekend series win over CAA opponents Northeastern.
The Seahawks took the first two games of the series but could not clinch the sweep in Sunday’s game. This season the Seahawks offense has been led by sophomore infielder Greg Jones who is the only player batting above .300 for the team. Jones recorded three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs in the team’s weekend series against Northeastern.
One way the Seahawks make up for their underwhelming hitting is by how efficient they are on the base paths. This season the Seahawks have attempted to steal a base 80 times and been thrown out just 16 times, giving them a success rate of 80%. Comparatively the Wolfpack has stolen 27 bases this season on 30 attempts. While the Wolfpack is more efficient with its steals, it tends to do so sparingly.
While the Seahawks generate a lot of offense from steals, the Wolfpack uses pure hitting ability to generate its offense. Of the usual starters for NC State, four are hitting over .300, including team leader, freshman center fielder Tyler McDonough, who is hitting .338.
The main issue for the Wolfpack in its recent slump has been the pitching. In the weekend series against Louisville, the Pack gave up a combined 34 runs across the three games, including 14 in each of the two games of Saturday’s double header.
NC State’s pitchers could use the midweek game to build confidence as the Seahawks are not a major offensive threat. The Seahawks average just over 5.5 runs per game this season.
If the Wolfpack pitching can return to where it was at the beginning of the season, then the Pack should be able to snap its losing streak against the Seahawks.
Opening pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16, at Brooks Field in Wilmington.