After the other revenue sports failed to meet expectations, the fan base at N.C. State found its saving grace through the baseball team.
Members of the highly touted sophomore class shortstop Trea Turner and pitcher Carlos Rodon helped the Wolfpack earn its first College World Series bid since 1968. Now that the fall season has concluded, the team will strive for another trip to Omaha.
The Pack will need to rely on a healthy offense in the upcoming season. With Tarran Senay, State’s leader in home runs and RBIs in 2013, gone from the roster, the team will look to Turner and junior outfielder Jake Fincher as the team’s catalysts.
Turner, who missed 11 games due to injury last season, and Fincher, led the team in hits with 84 and 83 respectively, giving Senay and junior catcher Brett Austin many opportunities to drive in runs for the Pack. However, Austin’s numbers depleted as the season ended with no rest behind the plate.
State recruited junior college transfer Bubby Riley to pick up the slack left from the departure of Senay and Grant Clyde, the Pack’s third baseman who caught fire during the second half of the regular season. His productivity at the plate will play a crucial role in the Pack’s success as he joins Fincher in the outfield in 2014.
State also added valuable freshmen that will see extended playing time in the spring such as first baseman Preston Palmeiro, infielder Markel Jones and catcher Kyle Cavanaugh.
Despite all of the questions of how much State will produce offensively, the number one cause for concern in the 2014 campaign is how well the bullpen will perform.
The Pack lost its three best relievers from last season: Grant Sasser, Chris Overman and Josh Easley. The three combined for an 11-3 record with a 1.05 ERA and 15 saves in 111 innings. Head coach Elliott Avent turned to the bullpen to shut down opposing teams when the Pack was trapped in a bind, and State rallied behind them to turn games around and take the victory.
With Sasser and Overman graduated, Easley and Anthony Tzamtzis signed to minor league ball clubs, and junior pitcher Travis Orwig redshirting due to an injury, the Pack is left diminished and vulnerable.
Rodon’s performance last season showed that he can pitch late in high-caliber matchups, especially with his 10-inning outing against UNC-Chapel Hill in the ACC tournament in Durham. The other two projected weekend starters, junior Logan Jernigan and sophomore Brad Stone, have yet to show such longevity, especially against ACC opponents. In two appearances against conference opponents,
Jernigan threw for 5.1 innings with no decisions in either showing. Stone finished with a 1-2 conference record with a 6.48 ERA in nine appearances.
The Pack’s most experienced reliever, senior Andrew Woeck, compiled a 6-1 record and a 3.09 ERA in 26 appearances last season. Other than the starting pitchers, no other pitcher came out more than 15 times last season.
Though State returns a potent offense that earned the team 50 wins last season, the prowess of the Pack’s pitching will need to propel the team to another College World Series bid. State has more than enough potential to deliver a conference championship and even a national championship back to Raleigh, but it all starts on the mound.
