The Big Ten isn’t known for its baseball prowess, but Minnesota is among the best of the bunch and the NC State baseball team will have its hands full when it welcomes the Golden Gophers to Raleigh for a three-game series this weekend at Doak Field.
The Pack remains undefeated after a trouncing of Campbell Wednesday night and sits at 8-0. The Golden Gophers have accumulated a 2-5 record thus far, but it’s still a team that is coming off Big Ten regular season and tournament championships last season before advancing to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament where it fell to eventual national champion Oregon.
The Gophers opened up the season ranked in or near the top 25 in most polls, but a combination of playing good teams, narrow losses and a stagnant offense that’s hit .214 collectively have hindered them in the early going. It doesn’t help losing your best hitter to the draft, as Minnesota did when Terrin Vavra was drafted by the Rockies after slashing .386/.455/.614 with 10 home runs and 59 RBIs. Reggie Meyer, a weekend starter with a 2.97 ERA in 2018 was drafted, along with Jackson Rose, a reliable reliever.
As for the returners, junior catcher Eli Wilson has been the Gophers’ top hitter this season, accumulating a slash line of .333/.414/.500 with two doubles and a triple in 24 at-bats. Senior outfielder Ben Mezzenga hasn’t been the same as last year, hitting just .214 this season, which has been the story of the team so far.
The Gophers had arguably the best offense in the Big Ten last season, but it’s failed to do much in the early going. It’s also a small sample, but the pitching staff has an unsightly 6.00 ERA after recording a 3.20 mark last season and the defense has made 13 errors in the field, good for just a .952 fielding percentage.
All in all, the Gophers haven’t done much well this year, but it certainly has the talent to compete.
The Wolfpack is on the other end of the spectrum, picking up where it left off last year on both offense and on the mound. Junior shortstop Will Wilson has an otherworldly 1.164 OPS this season, sophomore outfielder Terrell Tatum has shown signs of breaking out with a .375 batting average in 35 at bats. Freshmen Vojtech Mensik and Tyler McDonough have done their best so far replacing last year’s production of Josh McLain, Brett Kinneman and Brock Deatherage, and senior first baseman Evan Edwards has already flashed his power with four home runs.
On the mound, sophomore Reid Johnston hasn’t started any games but has been the staff’s best pitcher. In 11 innings of relief, he’s struck out 15 and walked only three batters while not giving up any runs. The rest of the staff has been good too, with redshirt sophomore Dalton Feeney showing well in his return from Tommy John surgery and the likes of junior Jason Parker, sophomore Canaan Silver, junior Alec Barger and junior Kent Klyman all having ERAs under 3.00.
It’s still early in the season, and Minnesota still has the ability to play good teams close, but this year’s iteration of the Golden Gophers is one that the Wolfpack should beat. If the NC State offense and pitching staff keep playing as they have and Minnesota continues its early season woes, this is a winnable series for the Pack in its last weekend series before ACC play.
Friday’s game is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch, Saturday is set for 2 p.m. and the series will wrap up Sunday with a noon start time at Doak Field. All games can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
