NC State slides in national polls following series loss to Stanford
NC State entered last weekend with a simple objective: sweep Stanford and the ACC regular season title would be theirs for the first time since 1986. But as simple as it sounded, one of the nation’s top leagues proved to humble the Wolfpack.
The Pack, which one Thursday’s opener 7-2, dropped the next two games, 4-3 (10 innings) and 6-3, to lose just its second ACC weekend series of the year — but to the 15th-place team.
“We didn’t play well this week,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said after the series finale loss. “We’ve been playing well in the last half of the season extremely well in all phases of the game. I don’t think we were sharp in baserunning, defense or hitting. We pitched pretty good, but the other three.”
NC State, as a result, saw its second major slide in the national polls of the year. NC State, which was 13th to start last week, is the No. 22 team in D1Baseball’s top 25, while Baseball America dropped the Pack from its rankings.
While its national rankings took a hit, the Wolfpack is still a top-four seed at this week’s ACC Tournament, hosted by the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Pack earned the No. 4 seed, earning a double-bye straight to Thursday’s quarterfinals.
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NC State will face either Clemson or Virginia Tech/Stanford with a chance to make the conference semifinals, which will be played on Saturday.
Avent and his staff will have a decision to make when it comes to which pitcher will toe the rubber first for the Wolfpack. NC State will have sophomore lefty Ryan Marohn on regular rest after he has been the team’s starter for the last two Thursdays, while junior lefty ace Dominic Fritton has thrown the past two Fridays and could be ready a day early.
Whichever arm the Wolfpack elects to go with, he will have a chance to set the tone to help wipe away the team’s regular season finish in the postseason. Not only is NC State chasing its first ACC Tournament title since 1992, that might be the only way the Pack could play its way back into a top-16 national seed to host the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Time will tell.
Full D1Baseball Top 25
| Ranking | Team | Overall Record | Record last week | Previous ranking |
| 1 | LSU | 42-13 | 2-1 | 1 |
| 2 | Texas | 42-11 | 2-1 | 3 |
| 3 | UNC | 39-12 | 2-1 | 4 |
| 4 | Oregon | 41-13 | 3-0 | 5 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 43-12 | 2-1 | 8 |
| 6 | Florida State | 37-13 | 1-2 | 2 |
| 7 | Oregon State | 41-12-1 | 4-0 | 7 |
| 8 | Auburn | 38-17 | 2-2 | 6 |
| 9 | Vanderbilt | 39-16 | 3-0 | 9 |
| 10 | Georgia | 42-14 | 2-1 | 10 |
| 11 | Coastal Carolina | 44-11 | 3-0 | 11 |
| 12 | Southern Miss | 41-13 | 3-0 | 19 |
| 13 | UCLA | 39-15 | 2-1 | 14 |
| 14 | Clemson | 41-15 | 3-0 | 15 |
| 15 | Florida | 37-19 | 2-1 | 23 |
| 16 | Georgia Tech | 39-16 | 2-1 | NR |
| 17 | Ole Miss | 37-18 | 3-1 | NR |
| 18 | Dallas Baptist | 38-14 | 2-1 | 24 |
| 19 | Northeastern | 45-9 | 4-0 | 25 |
| 20 | UC Irvine | 39-13 | 1-2 | 12 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 41-15 | 2-2 | 17 |
| 22 | NC State | 33-18 | 1-2 | 13 |
| 23 | Alabama | 40-15 | 1-2 | 18 |
| 24 | TCU | 37-17 | 2-1 | NR |
| 25 | Kansas | 42-14 | 3-0 | NR |
