After dropping the series finale to the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday, March 21, the NC State baseball team looks to get back into the swing of things with a midweek game against the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks on March 23.
The Wolfpack (4-9, 1-8 ACC) has struggled to compete the past two weeks with COVID-19 issues within the program. The Pack’s ACC weekend series against Duke and nonconference matchup at Coastal Carolina were canceled, forcing NC State to jump right back in against one of the best teams in the ACC.
Struggling to pick up ACC wins, a fresh midweek nonconference matchup just might be what the Pack needs to end the streak and get out of its funk.
NC State and UNCW last met Feb. 25, 2020, where the Pack defeated the Seahawks 11-0. Overall, NC State is 46-15 against the in-state opponent.
However, UNCW has proven to be a solid team so far this season, going 12-5 overall, and won’t be looking to hand NC State such an easy win.
Having just dropped a series to William & Mary this weekend, the Seahawks still managed to take home a win. Outfielder Noah Bridges will be entering the game against the Pack with some confidence having recorded a three-run homer leading to the Seahawks’ 4-1 victory on Sunday.
The Seahawks have hit 28 doubles, 16 home runs and have 93 RBIs so far this season. Kip Bradenburg leads the Seahawks with a batting average of .391.
Some other names the Pack should look out for are Dillon Lifrieri, Matt Suggs and Brooks Baldwin who all have batting averages above .300.
Both teams have a close fielding percentage with NC State at .979 and UNCW at .976. However, the difference is in the pitching as NC State has a combined ERA of 6.92, and UNCW has a combined ERA of 3.62 this season.
Right-handed pitcher Hunter Hodges has made seven appearances from the bullpen this season for the Seahawks, posting an individual ERA of 0.59 while right-handed pitchers Landon Roupp and Luke Gesell have both started five games this season. Roupp has pitched 29.2 innings and has struck out a total of 32 batters. So far, the Seahawks have a combined 146 strikeouts this season.
The Pack will need to improve its pitching in the midweek road trip against UNCW if it wants to get back on the winning side this season.
The matchup will take place at Brooks Field on Tuesday, March 23 at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on Flobaseball.
