After its first road trip of the season where it earned three wins over UNC-Chapel Hill, the NC State baseball team will return home and host Clemson in a three-game set this weekend April 2-4.
This series will be a huge test for the Wolfpack (9-9, 4-8 ACC) as it looks to continue its five-game win streak after sweeping UNC and beating UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Wilmington in its last two midweek matchups.
Playing strong against Clemson will also improve the Pack’s resume in the ACC, which has struggled to begin the season after series losses to Georgia Tech, Miami and Louisville.
Clemson (12-10, 6-6 ACC) is returning from a weekend sweep against the Boston College Eagles and a close 2-0 loss to Georgia on Tuesday. The Tigers have had some success in ACC play so far, sweeping Boston College and winning their series against Virginia Tech, but they lost all three games they played against UNC just a few weeks ago, a team NC State swept handily.
Names to look out for on Clemson’s roster include redshirt sophomore infielder James Parker and freshman first baseman Caden Grice.
Parker leads the team in batting average at .378 and is tied for the lead in home runs with six. In Saturday’s matchup against the Hokies, he went 3-5 with two RBIs and a walk, and in Friday’s matchup, he went 4-6 with seven RBIs. Grice sits just behind him with a .338 batting average and six home runs as well, leading the team in RBIs with 25 and extra-base hits with 11. They also both hold the top two spots for slugging percentage at .622 and .691, respectively.
On the mound, Clemson has been much better than the Pack in ACC play. The Tigers are giving up 5.25 runs per conference game compared to NC State’s 6.26; however, the Wolfpack only allowed six total to UNC in three games last weekend, which could be the momentum it needs to turn the tides. Also, Clemson’s pitching staff has only given up 19 home runs compared to the Pack’s 23, despite having played four more games.
This is a team NC State is very capable of taking advantage of offensively, especially seeing how successful it can be against really strong pitching. Of note after the game in Greensboro is freshman shortstop Jose Torres’ hit streak, which is currently at a team-high nine games, and sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough’s reached-base streak, which has now reached 35 games.
As mentioned before, the Wolfpack pitching staff has shown significant improvement over the last few days. NC State is now the only school in the ACC with two pitchers who have thrown complete games this season, thanks to impressive outings from junior Reid Johnston and freshman Chris Villaman. The Pack only allowed UNC to score six runs throughout the entire weekend, and UNC Greensboro didn’t even cross home plate once on Tuesday.
The first pitch of the series is set for 7 p.m. Friday night with games following at 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. All matchups will be aired on the ACC Network, and you can follow @TechSports on Twitter for live updates.
