NC State baseball weekend preview: Pack back on the road

For the second straight weekend and third in the past four, NC State baseball is hitting the road, this time at Virginia Tech.

The Wolfpack’s record stands at 18-9 overall and 6-5 in the ACC. First pitch Friday is 7 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m., and Sunday is 1 p.m. All three games can be viewed online with ACC Network Extra.

Here’s a look at the weekend ahead for NC State baseball against Virginia Tech

Looking At NC State Baseball Opponent: Virginia Tech

In the D1Baseall.com mock bracket released this week, its first version of the season, Virginia Tech was listed as one of the last four teams in the NCAA field.

(For those wondering, NC State baseball was a two seed in the Vanderbilt region. The Pack is ranked No. 21 in the D1Baseball.com top 25.)

Virginia Tech landed in that position by winning five of its last six ACC games, including taking 2 of 3 on the road at a ranked UNC team last weekend. The Hokies are led by a strong lineup fueled by the sophomore duo of catcher Cade Hunter and outfielder Jack Hurley.

Hurley and Hunter are 1-2 in the ACC in slugging percentage. Senior second baseman Eduardo Malinowski, who also has 10 home runs, is eighth. Freshman third baseman Carson DeMartini is ninth. As a team, VT has the league’s highest slugging percentage and leads the conference in home runs and doubles.

Hurley tops the ACC with a .464 batting average, is second in doubles (13), hits (45) and on-base percentage (.531), and tied for fifth in home runs (10). Hunter is third in the conference with his .409 average and has eight homers. He is also 10th in the ACC in stolen bases with nine.

On the mound, Virginia Tech pitches to contact. It is next to last in the ACC in strikeouts and has the 11th highest batting average allowed (.264). However, VT has not allowed many homers (18), second fewest in the league.

The Hokies also have the third best fielding percentage and tied for second fewest errors in the league.

Weekend Pitching

NC State baseball is changing up its weekend rotation for the fourth straight weekend.

NC State feel-good story redshirt sophomore Logan Whitaker, a righty, will go Friday for the first time this year. Having not thrown a pitch in his first three years in Raleigh due to injuries, Whitaker has elevated himself into the weekend rotation for the fourth straight start. In 24.2 innings, Whitaker has allowed only 14 hits and a .161 batting average. He’s walked 10 while striking out 22 and has the best earned run average (1.82) on the Pack’s staff.

Sophomore right hander Matt Willadsen will return to Saturday after being hit hard in his Friday debut, a loss at Clemson. He is 1-2 in seven starts with a 5.40 ERA while allowing 39 hits in 35.0 innings. He has surrendered 20 walks while fanning a team-high 36.

Unknown is who will pitch Sunday. After skipping a turn in the rotation at Florida State, sophomore right hander Sam Highfill made starts against Georgia Tech and Clemson. He was hit hard in the former and lasted 3.0 innings without an earned run in Sunday’s win over Clemson. He allowed four hits and two walks before being lifted.

Sophomore right hander Griffin Green has been Virginia Tech’s Friday starter all season and is 3-1 with a 3.51 ERA in seven appearances. He has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his seven starts.

Freshman righty Drue Hackenberg will pitch Saturday. He has allowed 41 hits in 38.0 innings and opponents are hitting .266 of him, but Hackenberg has found a way to work around that with a 5-0 record and 2.37 ERA on his way to being a rookie revelation, thus far, in the ACC.

Senior lefty Ryan Okuda has started most of the season thus far in the weekend rotation, but he has struggled with control (14 walks and three wild pitches in 25.2 innings). Okuda pitched in the midweek win over Marshall, and Virginia Tech has not announced who will throw Sunday.

ACC Standings And Schedule

Atlantic Division

Team	ACC W-L	Pct.	Overall W-L	Pct.
Louisville	7-2	.778	21-7	.750
Notre Dame	5-4	.556	17-5	.773
NC State	6-5	.545	18-9	.667
Wake Forest	6-6	.500	22-7	.759
Florida State	6-6	.500	17-11	.607
Clemson	2-6	.250	19-9	.679
Boston College	2-10	.167	13-16	.448

Coastal Division

Team	ACC W-L	Pct.	Overall W-L	Pct.
Miami	10-2	.833	23-6	.793
Virginia	9-3	.750	26-3	.897
North Carolina	6-6	.500	20-9	.690
Virginia Tech	5-5	.500	18-7	.720
Pittsburgh	5-6	.455	16-11	.593
Georgia Tech	5-7	.417	19-11	.633
Duke	3-9	.250	13-16	.448

Weekend Schedule

NC State at Virginia Tech

Clemson at Notre Dame

Duke at Wake Forest

Florida State at Georgia Tech

North Carolina at Louisville

Virginia at Miami

Notre Dame at Florida State

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