Friday, May 13
Louisville, KY
6:00 PM
NC State
at
Louisville
Photo by: Tom Miller
No. 10 #Pack9 Travels to No. 6 Louisville
5/12/2016 12:48:00 PM | Baseball
NC State meets Louisville for a pivotal three-game series this weekend
All three games streamed on ESPN3. Radio coverage 88.1 WKNC and 1550 WCLY. Televised Saturday on RSN.
Probable Starters
6 PM FRI. Cory Wilder vs. Brendan McKay
1 PM SAT. Brian Brown vs. Drew Harrington
1 PM SUN. Ryan Williamson vs. Kyle Funkhouser
NC State enters the weekend stinging from its first three-game series loss since March 13. The Pack defeated Clemson 20-9 last Saturday to even the series following a Friday night loss. Sunday's finale ended with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, and Clemson escaping with a 2-1 victory. Â NC State checks in at No. 6 in the latest NCAA RPI, No. 10 according to D1Baseball, and No. 13 in the Baseball America Top 25.
- MENDOZA: Sophomore third baseman Evan Mendoza enters the weekend on a 20-game hitting streak. During the streak Mendoza is hitting .446 (29-for-65), with 16 runs, two homers, a double, two RBIs, 10 walks, and seven strikeouts. The streak began following NC State's 8-7 win at Virginia on April 1, a game Mendoza entered in the sixth inning after an injury to left fielder Garrett Suggs. Mendoza finished the game 0-for-1. The streak began the next day. Logan Ratledge represents the last Wolfpack hitter with a longer streak, 21 games in 2015. The NC State record belongs to Greg Briley's 26-game hitting streak in 1986. Tom Sergio's 25-game streak from 1995 sits second.
- DEATHERAGE: Sophomore right fielder Brock Deatherage boasts a 15-game hitting streak of his own. Earlier this season, Deatherage composed a team-leading 25-game reached base streak. He's also the deadliest arm in the Wolfpack outfield, responsible for eight of NC State's 13 outfield assists on the year. Josh McLain has four from center.
- KNIZNER: Junior catcher Andrew Knizner seeks to become the third Academic All-American for the Wolfpack under head coach Elliott Avent, joining Jason Smith and Jake Weber. Knizner earned a place on the All-America ballot with a CoSIDA first-team Academic All-District honor on May 5. Knizner manages a 3.98 ERA in Industrial Engineering and a .293 average at the plate. A soon-to-be three-time ACC Academic Honor Roll recipient, Knizner made All-ACC second team at catcher last season following a Freshman All-America campaign at third base in 2014.
- PALMEIRO: Preston Palmeiro has two of the Pack's last three walk-off hits, a 12th-inning roundtripper against Miami in the 2015 ACC Tournament and a 10th-inning RBI single against Wake Forest April 9. Evan Mendoza supplied the latest, a ninth-inning RBI single against Duke April 29. Palmeiro leads the Pack in RBIs with 43, 21 against ACC competition. Palmeiro's contributed an RBI in 10 of the last 17 games, with multiple-RBI outings in eight of those, including a season-high five against Elon April 12 and four in the Friday night loss at Clemson.
- BROWN & WILLIAMSON: Brian Brown and Ryan Williamson each sport 7-1 records entering the weekend, the first time NC State has had any two pitchers with seven or more wins since Carlos Rodon and Josh Easley accomplished the feat in 2013. However, Easley started two of 25 appearances in 2013. Scott Foxhall's 2016 staff produced the first pair of Wolfpack starting pitchers with seven or more wins since Cory Mazzoni and Jake Buchanan in 2010. Over the last 10 games, Brown and Williamson are a combined 4-0 over 38 IP, striking out 39 and walking 12, allowing five earned for a 1.18 ERA.
- KINNEMAN: Six Wolfpack batters hit .300 or better in ACC play, with Brett Kinneman the low man. In 14 conference starts, the freshman has 18 hits, four doubles, a homer, and seven RBIs. Kinneman did not start regularly until the Virginia series at the beginning of April.
- TEAM BATTING: NC State features six batters with 50 or more hits, led by Palmeiro's 61. Chance Shepard has 49, Stephen Pitarra 45, figuring the Wolfpack should expect eight by year's end. In 2014 and 2015, NC State had five hitters reach 50. In both the 2012 Super Regional and 2013 College World Series runs, the Pack had seven.
Probable Starters
6 PM FRI. Cory Wilder vs. Brendan McKay
1 PM SAT. Brian Brown vs. Drew Harrington
1 PM SUN. Ryan Williamson vs. Kyle Funkhouser
NC State enters the weekend stinging from its first three-game series loss since March 13. The Pack defeated Clemson 20-9 last Saturday to even the series following a Friday night loss. Sunday's finale ended with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, and Clemson escaping with a 2-1 victory. Â NC State checks in at No. 6 in the latest NCAA RPI, No. 10 according to D1Baseball, and No. 13 in the Baseball America Top 25.
- MENDOZA: Sophomore third baseman Evan Mendoza enters the weekend on a 20-game hitting streak. During the streak Mendoza is hitting .446 (29-for-65), with 16 runs, two homers, a double, two RBIs, 10 walks, and seven strikeouts. The streak began following NC State's 8-7 win at Virginia on April 1, a game Mendoza entered in the sixth inning after an injury to left fielder Garrett Suggs. Mendoza finished the game 0-for-1. The streak began the next day. Logan Ratledge represents the last Wolfpack hitter with a longer streak, 21 games in 2015. The NC State record belongs to Greg Briley's 26-game hitting streak in 1986. Tom Sergio's 25-game streak from 1995 sits second.
- DEATHERAGE: Sophomore right fielder Brock Deatherage boasts a 15-game hitting streak of his own. Earlier this season, Deatherage composed a team-leading 25-game reached base streak. He's also the deadliest arm in the Wolfpack outfield, responsible for eight of NC State's 13 outfield assists on the year. Josh McLain has four from center.
- KNIZNER: Junior catcher Andrew Knizner seeks to become the third Academic All-American for the Wolfpack under head coach Elliott Avent, joining Jason Smith and Jake Weber. Knizner earned a place on the All-America ballot with a CoSIDA first-team Academic All-District honor on May 5. Knizner manages a 3.98 ERA in Industrial Engineering and a .293 average at the plate. A soon-to-be three-time ACC Academic Honor Roll recipient, Knizner made All-ACC second team at catcher last season following a Freshman All-America campaign at third base in 2014.
- PALMEIRO: Preston Palmeiro has two of the Pack's last three walk-off hits, a 12th-inning roundtripper against Miami in the 2015 ACC Tournament and a 10th-inning RBI single against Wake Forest April 9. Evan Mendoza supplied the latest, a ninth-inning RBI single against Duke April 29. Palmeiro leads the Pack in RBIs with 43, 21 against ACC competition. Palmeiro's contributed an RBI in 10 of the last 17 games, with multiple-RBI outings in eight of those, including a season-high five against Elon April 12 and four in the Friday night loss at Clemson.
- BROWN & WILLIAMSON: Brian Brown and Ryan Williamson each sport 7-1 records entering the weekend, the first time NC State has had any two pitchers with seven or more wins since Carlos Rodon and Josh Easley accomplished the feat in 2013. However, Easley started two of 25 appearances in 2013. Scott Foxhall's 2016 staff produced the first pair of Wolfpack starting pitchers with seven or more wins since Cory Mazzoni and Jake Buchanan in 2010. Over the last 10 games, Brown and Williamson are a combined 4-0 over 38 IP, striking out 39 and walking 12, allowing five earned for a 1.18 ERA.
- KINNEMAN: Six Wolfpack batters hit .300 or better in ACC play, with Brett Kinneman the low man. In 14 conference starts, the freshman has 18 hits, four doubles, a homer, and seven RBIs. Kinneman did not start regularly until the Virginia series at the beginning of April.
- TEAM BATTING: NC State features six batters with 50 or more hits, led by Palmeiro's 61. Chance Shepard has 49, Stephen Pitarra 45, figuring the Wolfpack should expect eight by year's end. In 2014 and 2015, NC State had five hitters reach 50. In both the 2012 Super Regional and 2013 College World Series runs, the Pack had seven.
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Players Mentioned
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