NC State Newsstand: Wolfpack baseball continues surge through national polls
After a much-needed sweep over Ball State over the weekend, NC State baseball has continued its rise through the national rankings.
The Wolfpack (25-16, 12-9 ACC) moved up one to No. 20 in the D1Baseball Top 25, while it surged up four spots to No. 13 in Baseball America’s weekly rankings. NC State’s RPI improved nine spots to No. 20 as well.
“NC State responded to its Tuesday loss at East Carolina with a sound sweep of Ball State,” Baseball America’s Ted Cahill and Peter Flaherty wrote. “It was a well-rounded effort from the Wolfpack: they collected double-digit hits in all three games and no pitcher allowed more than two earned runs.”
Graduate third baseman Alec Makarewicz paced the Pack offense with six RBI over the three-game series, including a grand slam in Saturday’s series clinching victory. Junior catcher Jacob Cozart slugged a pair of homers with five RBI, while junior shortstop Brandon Butterworth added six hits and three RBI throughout the series.
NC State has a tough week ahead of itself with a midweek contest at home against UNCW on Tuesday evening before making a trip to No. 5/7 Florida State over the weekend.
Complete D1Baseball Top 25:
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
| 1 | Texas A&M | 38-6 | 1 |
| 2 | Arkansas | 37-7 | 2 |
| 3 | Tennessee | 37-7 | 3 |
| 4 | Clemson | 34-9 | 5 |
| 5 | East Carolina | 35-8 | 7 |
| 6 | Oregon State | 33-10 | 9 |
| 7 | Florida State | 34-9 | 10 |
| 8 | Kentucky | 33-9 | 4 |
| 9 | UC Irvine | 32-8 | 12 |
| 10 | Duke | 30-14 | 6 |
| 11 | Virginia | 33-12 | 14 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 33-11 | 15 |
| 13 | Wake Forest | 27-16 | 8 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 30-14 | 19 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 29-14 | 24 |
| 16 | Mississippi State | 29-15 | NR |
| 17 | Vanderbilt | 31-13 | 11 |
| 18 | Louisana | 33-13 | 17 |
| 19 | Georgia | 31-12 | 20 |
| 20 | NC State | 25-16 | 21 |
| 21 | Arizona | 26-16 | 16 |
| 22 | Oklahoma | 26-15 | 18 |
| 23 | Alabama | 28-16 | 23 |
| 24 | Indiana State | 31-9 | 25 |
| 25 | Utah | 29-13 | NR |
Tweets of the day
Wolfpack baseball raised more than $50,000 for pediatric cancer research in its ‘Victory Over Cancer’ game Sunday afternoon at The Doak.
Former NC State and Clemson forward Jack Clark committed to VCU via the transfer portal for his seventh year of college basketball.
Wolfpack women’s coach Wes Moore is starting to turn heads nationally.
Quote of the day
NC State coach Elliott Avent was proud of how the Wolfpack’s ‘Victory Over Cancer’ game went and he hopes it can grow across the region, and eventually the nation.
“My dream is, obviously we’ll play this game every year at NC State, but I’d love to see it start around the ACC, every college in North Carolina and maybe spread out to other conferences,” Avent said. “This couldn’t have been a bigger success.”
Today’s top headlines
NC State’s ‘Victory Over Cancer’ game brings smiles, funds to pediatric cancer research
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Why the Pittsburgh Steelers took NC State LB Payton Wilson in the NFL draft
