North Carolina State University Athletics
State Hosts Elon at 6 p.m. Wednesday
4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 10, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. - No. 17 NC State hosts Elon in a midweek battle Wednesday night at 6 p.m. before traveling to Clemson this weekend.
Both teams will start lefthanders, as State tabs D.J. Thomas (1-1, 3.78 ERA) its starter, while Elon gives the nod to Andrew MacDonald (4-1, 2.10).
The Wolfpack took the first game of the home-and-home series, 8-1 at Elon on March 13.
NC State's RPI ranks 11th in the nation, and the Pack hung on to national rankings of 17th (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper), 21st (USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll), and 22nd (Baseball America) despite dropping two games.
Chris Diaz will look to lead the Wolfpack offensively. Diaz has the ACC's fourth-best batting average (.366), the seventh-most hits (45), and comes in tied for 12th in RBIs (28).
Jake Fincher enters the week swinging the Pack's hottest bat. Over the last five games, Fincher is hitting a scorching .467, going 7-for-15 with three runs and an RBI. The freshman ranks fourth in the ACC in batting average in conference play, batting .362 against ACC opponents.
Danny Canela has seven RBIs in his last four outings, highlighted by a three-run homer at Old Dominion and a three-RBI afternoon Saturday at Maryland.
Radio coverage for Wednesday's game will be provided by 88.1 WKNC, fans can follow Twitter updates from @NCStateBaseball, and live stats will be available at GoPack.com.
