NC State baseball series preview: Crucial showdown at Louisville
NC State baseball is enjoying a six-game winning streak, improving its overall record to 24-11, including a 10-7 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. If the winning ways continue this weekend at Louisville, the Pack could find itself on top of the Atlantic Division in the ACC.
The Cardinals currently hold the top spot in the division with a 9-6 league mark. If the Pack were to take the series by winning at least two of three games, NC State would overtake Louisville in the Atlantic Division standings.
(If either Wake Forest, playing at Notre Dame, or Florida State, traveling to Clemson, sweeps their respective opponents this weekend, NC State would need to sweep Louisville to claim first place in the division.)
First pitch Friday is 8 p.m. on ACC Network. Both games Saturday and Sunday are 1 p.m. and televised online by ACC Network Extra.
Here is a weekend preview of NC State baseball at Louisville.
Looking At NC State Baseball Opponent: Louisville
The Cardinals rank with Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech as the most potent lineups that NC State baseball will have pitched against this season thus far.
Louisville ranks fourth in the ACC in team batting average (.312), third in slugging percentage (.534), third in on base percentage (.424), fourth in runs scored (339), tied for fourth in hits (404), fourth in runs batted in (311), tied for fourth in doubles (75), first in triples (16) and fourth in homers (60).
The Cards also make good contact and are patient. They are tied for the third most walks drawn yet are 11th in strikeouts. Louisville is aggressive on the base paths. No team in the ACC attempts more steals than Louisville, who lead the conference in stolen bases by 15 more than the next nearest team.
Louisville though has struggled at times in pitching. Its team earned run average is 10th in the ACC at 5.12. Only Boston College and Georgia Tech have allowed more runs than the Cards, who are also prone to giving up homers — 41, tied for ninth most in the conference.
In its last three ACC series, Louisville dropped two of three at Pitt and was swept at Florida State. In between, it won two of three at home to UNC but needed extra innings to win both of those games.
Weekend Pitching
NC State baseball is going with the same duo it used to start the last two series with Sunday currently labeled as “TBA.”
NC State redshirt sophomore Logan Whitaker, a righty, will go Friday. In 33.2 innings, Whitaker has allowed 28 hits and a .222 batting average while sporting a 4.01 ERA, a number inflated by allowing nine earned runs in 4.0 innings at Virginia Tech, to date his lone ineffective start.
Sophomore right hander Matt Willadsen will go Saturday. He is 1-3 in nine starts with a 5.44 ERA while allowing 53 hits in a team-high 46.1 innings. He has surrendered 23 walks while fanning a team-high 47.
Unknown is who will pitch Sunday. Sophomore right hander Sam Highfill has three times skipped turns in the rotation, including the last two. In his place those weekends, super senior lefty Canaan Silver has shined.For the season Silver is 5-0 with a 2.13 ERA in 38.0 innings.
Senior righthander Jared Poland will throw game one role for Louisville. He has been strong on the mound, sporting a 2.57 ERA in nine games, including eight starts, while striking out 52 batters in 42.0 innings.
However, the next two games have not had a starter announced.
ACC Standings And Schedule
Atlantic Division
Team | ACC W-L | Pct. | Overall W-L | Pct. |
Louisville | 9-6 | .600 | 25-11 | .694 |
NC State | 10-7 | .588 | 24-11 | .686 |
Wake Forest | 10-8 | .556 | 28-9 | .757 |
Florida State | 10-8 | .556 | 23-13 | .639 |
Notre Dame | 8-7 | .533 | 23-8 | .742 |
Clemson | 4-10 | .286 | 24-13 | .649 |
Boston College | 3-15 | .167 | 15-22 | .405 |
Coastal Division
Team | ACC W-L | Pct. | Overall W-L | Pct. |
Miami | 13-2 | .778 | 29-8 | .784 |
Virginia Tech | 9-7 | .562 | 25-9 | .735 |
Virginia | 10-8 | .556 | 28-10 | .737 |
Pittsburgh | 9-8 | .529 | 21-14 | .600 |
Georgia Tech | 9-9 | .500 | 24-14 | .632 |
North Carolina | 8-10 | .444 | 23-14 | .622 |
Duke | 6-12 | .333 | 16-21 | .432 |
Weekend Series Schedule
NC State at Louisville
Wake Forest at Notre Dame
Virginia Tech at Boston College
Duke at Georgia Tech
North Carolina at Virginia
Pittsburgh at Miami
Florida State at Clemson
NC State Baseball Midweek Recap
A four-run fourth inning by High Point put a scare into NC State baseball, as it saw its 4-1 lead turn into a 5-4 deficit in the process.
But the Wolfpack answered with a four-run sixth and tacked on five more runs to run away with a 13-5 victory.
In the process, two milestones were reached. Freshman infielder/designated hitter Tommy White set a new school record for homers by a freshman in a season when he belted his 14th of the year, and manager Elliott Avent won his 950th game as the NC State baseball head coach.
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