NC State Baseball Welcomes #22 Florida State for Weekend Series

FLORIDA STATE - NC STATE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday – Sunday, April 7-9
Location: Raleigh, N.C.
Site: Doak Field at Dail Park
Times: 6:30 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.) | 1:00 P.M. (Sun.)
Radio: WKNC 88.1 FM
Live Video: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: SideArm Stats

STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: LHP Sean Adler (NCSU) vs. RHP Cole Sands (FSU)
Saturday: LHP Brian Brown (NCSU) vs. LHP Tyler Holton (FSU)
Sunday: RHP Michael Bienlien (NCSU) vs. LHP Drew Parrish (FSU)

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State baseball team will welcome the 22^nd-ranked Florida State Seminoles to campus this weekend for a three-game series. Friday and Saturday's games are set for 6:30 p.m. and Sunday's first pitch is 1 p.m. at Doak Field at Dail Park.

All three games of the series will be broadcast live on the ACC Network Extra, as well as radio coverage on WKNC 88.1 FM and on GoPack.com for premium subscribers.

NC State enters the weekend with a 16-14 overall record and a 5-7 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. Florida State heads into the series with a 20-11 record in 2017 to go along with a 6-6 clip against league opponents.

Last Time Out
In its most recent outing, the Wolfpack collected a season-high 18 hits to earn a 13-1 win against UNC Asheville at home on Tuesday.

Florida State also won its last outing, collecting a 3-2 victory against No. 20 Florida Gulf Coast in a rain-shortened contest at home on Wednesday afternoon.

Last Time Versus Florida State
NC State and Florida State last met in the first game of the 2016 ACC Championship for both teams, as the Seminoles earned a 7-3 win at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP). The Wolfpack led early in the contest, but the 'Noles pulled away late with four runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Last year's regular-season series was altered due to weather, as the teams were only able to play one game, which FSU won 8-5 in Tallahassee.

Last Time Florida State Visited Raleigh
Florida State last visited Doak Field in 2015 when NC State won the series finale, 11-7, after dropping one-run games on Friday and Saturday. Joe O'Donnell earned the win for the Wolfpack with 2.2 innings of relief.

Scouting Florida State
Florida State heads to Raleigh with a 7-4 record in road games, including a 4-2 mark in away games in ACC play. The Seminoles won both of their midweek games at home against Florida Gulf Coast earlier this week.

FSU's two wins against the Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak, as the Seminoles were swept at home in their last conference series.

Florida State owns a team batting average of .259, while opponents have been hitting at a .234 clip. Rhett Aplin leads the squad at the plate with a .320 average to go along with a team-best 33 hits.

The Seminoles average 8.52 hits per game and are scoring 7.29 runs per game. On the mound, Florida State's pitchers have compiled the fourth-best earned run average (ERA) in the conference with a 3.44 mark.

Avent Approaching 1,000 Career Wins
NC State head coach Elliott Avent is approaching 1,000 career wins, as he heads into the weekend with 995 to his credit. He would become the fifth active head coach in the ACC with 1,000 or more career wins.

Additionally, Avent would join an elite group as only 15 active Division I head coaches have reached 1,000 career wins.

#PackPair
The Wolfpack has turned 33 double plays this year, the second most in the ACC and seventh-best in the NCAA. NC State has turned a double play in 22 of 30 games, highlighted by a season-high four double plays at UNCG.

Dunand Goes Yard
Junior Joe Dunand leads the team and is tied for third in the conference with 10 home runs. The Miami, Fla., native has logged 103 at-bats in 2017 to average a homer every 10.3 at-bats.

His 10 home runs this season are a career-high, as he notched seven as a freshman and four as a sophomore to own 21 long balls for his career, fifth most among active players in the ACC.

Johnny On the Spot
Redshirt senior Johnny Piedmonte made his first start of the season for NC State in Tuesday night's game and delivered a strong performance to earn the win. He allowed just two hits and one earned run to go along with four strikeouts in five innings pitched.

Hitting Stride
The Wolfpack collected a season-high 18 hits in Tuesday's win against UNC Asheville. NC State batters tallied at least one hit in seven of the eight innings, as the Pack did not bat in the bottom of the ninth.

Also, each batter in the NC State lineup that recorded a hit had more than one. Seven players logged multi-hit performances.

Double Trouble
The Wolfpack has hit 67 doubles as a team in 2017, tied for the third most in the conference behind Georgia Tech with 72 and Duke with 71.

In addition, junior Josh McLain is tied for the ACC lead with 15 doubles this season.

First to Score
The Wolfpack is 12-3 when scoring the first run of a game this season.

The More, The Better
NC State has recorded more hits than its opponent in 12 games this year and has won all 12 contests. Additionally, the Wolfpack is 3-4 when hits are tied and 1-10 when the opponent tallies more hits.

#STATEMENT

NC State Baseball Welcomes #22 Florida State for Weekend Series

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Players Mentioned

Sean Adler

Michael Bienlien

Brian Brown

Joe Dunand

Josh McLain

Joe O'Donnell

Johnny Piedmonte