Softball Begins ACC Road Slate at Louisville This Weekend

RALEIGH, N.C. – For the first time in the history of the program, the NC State softball team will head to Louisville, Ky., to take on the Louisville Cardinals for an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season series. The teams will play a doubleheader Friday afternoon starting at 2 p.m. and a single game Sunday at noon.

The Wolfpack enters the weekend with a 15-15 overall record and a 2-1 mark in ACC play, while the Cardinals are 19-6 and 5-1 in conference action.

NC State and Louisville have met three times on the softball field with the Cards owning a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series. Last season, the Wolfpack defeated the Cardinals in the ACC Championship in Blacksburg, Va., 3-2.

All three prior matchups were on neutral fields. Last year, NC State and Louisville did not meet during the conference regular season slate.

Last Time Out
In its last outing, NC State rallied late but dropped a 7-4 decision at home against the East Carolina Pirates.

New Faces, New Places
Due to injuries in the Wolfpack pitching staff, NC State has been forced to experiment with some new faces in the circle. Meredith Burroughs and Maggie Hawkins each saw their first action on the mound for the Wolfpack last the weekend.

Burroughs threw three scoreless innings against IUPUI last Saturday in her collegiate debut, which earned her first career start in the circle on Sunday versus Bryant. She also pitched 1.1 innings versus East Carolina on Wednesday.

Second Time Around
NC State has plated 32 runs in the second inning of games this season, the most in any inning. The squad's second-highest scoring inning is the third with 26 runs in the frame.

The More, The Merrier
The Wolfpack has out-hit its opponent 12 times this year and is 11-1 when accomplish the feat.

Crucial Third Inning
NC State has compiled a record of 10-2 when leading after the third inning. In contrast, the Wolfpack is just 2-9 when trailing at the end of the third frame.

Power Trip
NC State has hit an ACC-best 38 home runs, which is tied for 11^th in the NCAA. In fact, the Wolfpack has hit more home runs than doubles (33). The Pack is 8-3 when hitting two or more home runs in a game.

Clutch with Two Outs
Molly Hutchison and Hanna Sommer have both been great for the Wolfpack with two outs in clutch situations. They each have 10 hits with two outs to go along with a .370 batting average when down to NC State's final out of an inning.

Scouting Louisville
- The Louisville Cardinals enter the weekend with a 19-6 overall record and a 5-1 mark in ACC action.
- Louisville defeated Virginia, 2-1, in its most recent outing to complete the series sweep of the Cavaliers at home.
- The Cardinals and Wolfpack share two commons to this point in the season, as Louisville made the trip to Raleigh in February to compete in the Inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
- Louisville defeated Wisconsin twice and dropped a pair to Nebraska, while NC State split with both teams.
- The Cards have a team batting average of .308 and are scoring 5.64 runs per game.
- Maryssa Becker leads the team at the plate with a .423 clip and is tied for the team lead with 30 hits.
- She also paces the pitching staff with a 1.65 earned run average (ERA) to go along with a 9-4 record. As a team, Louisville pitchers have combined to record a 1.69 ERA.

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Softball Begins ACC Road Slate at Louisville This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Meredith Burroughs

Maggie Hawkins

Molly Hutchison

Hanna Sommer