This article was updated on March, 12, 2020 at 3:55 p.m.
Update:
This event has, in the time between publishing and being updated, been canceled due to the ACC suspending all “athletics related activities.” More information can be found here.
Original article:
The No. 9 NC State baseball team is set to host its first ACC home series this weekend against Boston College.
According to NC State Athletics’ press release on Thursday morning, all home athletic events, including this series at Doak Field, will not be open to the general public to help control the spread of COVID-19.
The Wolfpack (13-3, 1-2 ACC) struggled last weekend in Charlottesville against Virginia, losing two of three to open up ACC play and those struggles continued into the week as it split two matchups against in-state opponents.
The Pack lost its first game on Tuesday against UNC-Charlotte, but bounced back the next day with a walk-off 8-7 win against NC A&T. Junior second baseman J.T. Jarrett had the game-winning two-RBI hit.
Leaving runners on base was NC State’s problem all weekend long at Virginia. The Wolfpack left 36 runners on base in those three games. If NC State wants to be an ACC championship contender, that is a stat that needs to turn around.
In the two ACC games NC State lost, its starting pitchers did not make it out of the third inning. Juniors Reid Johnston, who started game one, and David Harrison, who got the ball in game three, were shaky in their first ACC starts of the season. The duo allowed a total of nine earned runs in four innings.
On a bright side for NC State’s starting pitchers, junior left-handed pitcher Nick Swiney continued to deal. He pitched seven innings allowing only two earned runs while striking out five to pick up the win on Saturday.
NC State’s offense has remained steady as it has a team batting average of .318. Leading the Wolfpack is junior catcher Patrick Bailey and junior third baseman Devonte Brown who have six and five home runs, respectively. Brown also leads the team in hits with 21.
Other key offensive players to look out for include junior first baseman Austin Murr and sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough. Sophomore Luca Tresh has been tremendous after missing the first few games with an injury, as he is batting .405 in 10 games.
Boston College (5-9, 0-3 ACC) was swept last weekend on the road by Clemson. However, the Eagles lost two of those games by only one run. Boston College has an offense that can run rampant, scoring 19 runs and 20 runs in games earlier this season against Fairfield.
The Eagles have three players who hit over .400: Cody Morissette hits .455, while Joe Suozzi is at .426 and Jack Cunningham is at and even .400. If Wolfpack pitchers can keep these three quiet, it should have no problem picking up a series win, as Boston College has only one other player batting over .300.
NC State will likely see Mason Pelio, Joey Walsh and Joe Mancini on the mound this weekend. Walsh has the lowest ERA of the trio at 3.26 in 19.1 innings pitched.
Game one and game two are both scheduled for 6:30 p.m starts. Game three is set to begin at 2 p.m. All of these games will be televised live on the ACC Network Extra, with live updates for some games from @TechSports on Twitter.
