The NC State baseball team is set to travel to Virginia this weekend, March 6-8 in a three-game series for its first conference matchup of the season.
The Wolfpack (12-0) is coming off an incredible offensive performance against Coastal Carolina, beating the Chanticleers 24-7 in seven innings. NC State started off the game hot, scoring 10 runs in the first inning. This first inning included a two-run home run by junior infielder/outfielder Devonte Brown and junior catcher Patrick Bailey’s third grand slam of the year.
Junior first baseman Austin Murr also went yard, driving home three runs on a shot to right center in the 3rd inning. Sophomore catcher/outfielder Luca Tresh also had himself a day, going 4-5 at the dish with four runs and two RBIs.
The Cavaliers (10-3) are coming off a dominant 16-7 team win over Richmond which puts them at a six game win streak. Virginia has only one series loss so far this season which came against No. 15 Oklahoma and still managed to pull out one win.
The UVa offense, like NC State, is very hot, scoring 52 runs in the past four games and only giving up 15. The offense has been led by OF Chris Newell who is batting a strong .410 along with two home runs and 13 RBIs. The Cavaliers have six players batting over .300 and a bench player, Christian Hlinka, batting .333 while leading the team in homeruns with four. The starting lineup also only has two players in the single digits in RBIs. The UVA offense has significant depth and strong hitters across most of the starting lineup and even on the bench.
It is hard to deny that NC State’s offense has not been impressive. The Wolfpack leads the ACC in batting average, hits, homeruns, on-base percentage, runs and slugging percentage. The offense has been led byBrown and Bailey who have been run factories for the team. Brown has batted .432, slammed five home runs, and drove in 18 runs while Bailey has been hitting .308 with five home runs and 16 RBIs. The upperclassmen have been leading by example for the relatively youthful NC State team.
The starting pitchers for the Wolfpack this weekend will be junior righty Reid Johnston Friday, junior lefty Nick Swiney Saturday, and junior lefty David Harrison Sunday.
The games will begin at 4 p.m Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday and will all take place at Virginia’s Davenport Field. The first two games will be televised on ACC Network Extra and the last game will be on ACC Network.
