It’s a good thing Dail Softball Stadium has towering nets behind the outfield fence, otherwise the NC State softball team might be short a few buckets of softballs this year.

On the heels of a disappointing 23-31 (5-18 ACC) 2018 season, this year’s Wolfpack squad has a brand-new coaching staff, led by head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, and seven new players (four transfers, three freshmen).

With Patrick-Swift comes a new philosophy, one that should fix a fatal issue the Pack had in 2018: a “home-run mindset.”

“Our mindset is that everyone has [power],” Patrick-Swift said. “It’s just a matter of if they believe they can get out there and [hit home runs].”

Last year, the team hit just 36 home runs, and if the preseason this year is any indication, that total will increase significantly in 2019.

“Over a third of the balls are going out in batting practice,” Patrick-Swift said.

The Wolfpack lost nine players to graduation or transfer, including six starters and 65 percent of its game started. Included in the losses are its top three hitters in terms of batting average — Cheyenne Balzer, Haylee Kobziak and Alyssa Compton — and former All-ACC Second Team outfielder Jade Caraway, who transferred to Florida.

Some key returners for the Pack on offense are sophomore outfielder Sam Russ (.275 batting average, 17 stolen bases), sophomore infielder Chandley Garner (.276, 11 home runs) and junior outfielder Angie Rizzi (.254).

Junior infielder Skylar Johnston (.315, 14 home runs) transferred in from Fordham, and sophomore infielder Logan Morris (.364, 47 RBI) came over from USC Upstate. Johnston and Morris are expected to provide some much-needed pop to the middle of the Wolfpack lineup, and the home-run mindset of Patrick-Swift is something Johnston is excited for.

“Our first practice we just played home run derby,” Johnston said. “Last week, we had maybe 100-150 [home runs] between all of us.”

Echoing Johnston’s excitement, Rizzi sees herself as a prime example of a huge difference in this year’s team.

“I hit my first home run in the fall,” Rizzi said. “And ever since then, coach has looked at me as a power hitter. I never thought I’d be able to do it.”

Although many of her teammates transferred out after the firing of head coach Shawn Rychcik, Rizzi never wavered on her commitment to NC State.

“I just bought into the program,” Rizzi said. “Knowing what [Patrick-Swift] can do for our program, I know it’s going to be a good fit for us.”

One expected strength for the Wolfpack should be its pitching. In junior Devin Wallace, sophomore Kama Woodall and senior Brittany Nimmo, the Pack returns over 93 percent of its innings pitched from 2018 and will be adding freshman Sydney Nester to the rotation.

“The pitching staff complements each other well,” Patrick-Swift said. “I look for there to be a lot of games where we pitch by committee.”

Pitching by committee will be a big difference for this year’s Wolfpack squad, as last year Wallace and Woodall combined to pitch over 300 of the Wolfpack’s 348 innings.

It has been four years since the Wolfpack made the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) and six since it won the ACC, and Patrick-Swift is ready to turn that around this season.

“We want to add banners,” Patrick-Swift said. “We want to add numbers. We want to win championships.”