NC State baseball has not had the year it was expected to have, limping to an 8-9 record to start the season. But off the back of a weekend-series sweep, the Wolfpack will have a chance to exorcise its demons against the team who started all its troubles, the UNC-Greensboro Spartans.
The Spartans themselves only sport a 13-10 record; however, the team has the pedigree to beat quality opponents, as they proved against the Wolfpack and a then-ranked No. 13 Virginia Tech Hokies squad. History says the Wolfpack should be able to beat the Spartans, as the Pack lead the all-time series 28-9, but the Spartans have already defied expectations by beating NC State once this season, and there’s nothing stopping them from doing it again.
The Spartans are led by a cadre of sluggers who can do damage: outfielder Corey Rosier, infielder Hogan Windish and first baseman Josh Madole. The three have played in all 23 games for the Spartans and provide much of the offensive output for the team. In their last game against the Wolfpack, the trio went off, collecting a combined seven hits in 17 at-bats, producing seven RBIs and three extra base hits, including a home run. Stopping these three means stopping the UNCG offense.
Rosier especially has been crucial for UNCG this season, hitting .368 for 26 RBIs and five home runs, and carrying an OPS above 1.000. Windish is right behind Rosier in OPS with a .951 coming into the matchup, and is second on the team in RBIs with 22. Madole is the one of two hitters on UNCG’s roster to hit over .300 this season along with Rosier, hitting .310.
While UNCG is dependent on Rosier, Windish and Madole, a few more players have entered the fray for the Spartans in recent weeks. Other hitters to keep an eye on for the Spartans are outfielder Pres Cavenaugh and infielder Zack Budzik, who both have on-base percentages above .800 and slugging percentages each above .400.
Luckily for the Wolfpack bats, the UNCG pitching isn’t much to behold. Five of the six pitchers who have pitched the most innings for the Spartans have ERAs above 4.80, including Austin Koehn, whose 29.1 innings pitched and 5.22 ERA are the highest on the team. The production from the bullpen hasn’t been great for the Spartans either, as players like Price King and Brandon Stephens have ERAs above 3.00. Depending on how healthy the NC State roster is, exploiting the Spartan pitching will be the key towards winning the game.
NC State will have to make the trip west to Greensboro, at UNCG Baseball Stadium, for this game. The game will be played at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30 and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
