NC State baseball cruises to fall wins over Duke, Walters State
NC State baseball returned to the diamond for a pair of dates against Duke and Walters State over the past two weeks to wrap up its fall practice slate. It’s the first time the NCAA has allowed teams to play against other competition in the fall, which coach Elliott Avent welcomed.
“It helps so much just to get out there, bounce around, and see new faces,” Avent said. “See how your team is, where guys can play, and how they can play.”
The Wolfpack played four games against the two opponents and went 4-0 with 10-3 and 5-1 wins over the Blue Devils at Durham Bulls Athletic Park last week and 13-4 and 7-6 victories over the Senators on Wednesday night.
While NC State played well against Duke with a full effort with sharp pitching and timely hitting, Avent was not pleased with his team’s focus against Walters State.
“It’s the kind of game, if it were a basketball game, I’d burn the tape,” Avent said. “I wouldn’t even watch the film. We walked people tonight unbelievably. I hope it’s a lack of focus, which we can hopefully take care of by shrinking who we play. … We just have a lot of work to do.”
He was appreciative of Walters State for driving down to Raleigh on Wednesday morning as they turned around to go home that night since the NCAA would not allow the Pack to give the Senators money to spend the night in a hotel.
Avent may not have been happy with the team’s complete performance against Walters State, but graduate right-handed pitcher Sam Highfill looked to be back in his form after dealing with an injury.
He started the first game against Walters State, and pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts.
For Avent, it was a pleasure to see Highfill back in a commanding zone.
“Looked just like his old self,” Avent said. “Sam’s tired of all the stuff he had to go through. … He just goes about his business. It was good to see him out there.”
While the Wolfpack starter was back to his old ways, NC State graduate first baseman Garrett Pennington, a Wichita State transfer, made his introduction to The Doak in a loud way.
He generated a lot of loud contact, and he crushed a two-run homer over the left field fence in the first game, which gave the Pack a 6-4 lead. The ball was measured at 111 mph off the bat, which is the pop that NC State was looking for in his bat.
“He’s a veteran player, and comes from a good program,” Avent said of Pennington. “Obviously he has power, and is a competitive hitter, and has been around. He’s going to add something to our ball club this year.”
For Pennington, the fall exhibitions were a good experience.
“Playing against another team, the heart beat starts going,” Pennington said. “The younger guys, it gets their heart beat going. There are other guys in uniform, you’re not playing guys that are in the same locker room as you. It’s more of a competitive edge, so it’s good for us.”
The final fall exhibition was against a quality Walters State squad, and Avent noted that NC State’s struggles were not a shot at the opponent. Instead, his team has to improve its focus since the next time it plays against another team it will count.
“It’s good to get out there and bounce around,” Avent said. “Walters State is really, really good. … They’ve got really good players. You saw some of the arms they put out there. It’s not about how we did, it’s about the focus of some of the things that we did shows that we have no concept of how to play the game right now.”
