Friday, May 14
Pittsburgh, Pa. (Charles L. Cost Field)
6 PM
NC State
at
#16 Pittsburgh
#Pack9 Set For Final ACC Road Series Of Season Against Pitt
5/13/2021 1:11:00 PM | Baseball
RALEIGH – NC State baseball (23-14, 14-13 ACC) will play its final road series of the season this weekend when it travels to No. 16 Pittsburgh (22-13, 16-11 ACC) for a three-game set. The teams will play Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh, Pa.
All three games will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra, and there will be a free audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the TuneIn App.
STARTING PITCHERS
Friday – RHP Reid Johnston (NCSU) vs. RHP Mitch Myers (PITT)
Saturday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. RHP Matt Gilbertson (PITT)
Sunday – TBA (NCSU) vs. RHP Billy Corcoran (PITT)
SERIES HISTORY
Heading into this weekend, NC State and Pitt have met a combined 10 times on the diamond as the Wolfpack leads the all-time series, 9-1.
Since the Panthers became a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the teams have played three series against each other in 2015, '17 and '19, and NC State has swept all three of them. The most recent meeting was on March 8-10, 2019 in Raleigh, and the Pack earned 4-3, 21-3 and 6-5 victories.
LAST TIME OUT
NC State remained red hot even after a nine-day break from competition on Tuesday evening as it downed UNCW, 9-1, at Doak Field at Dail Park.
Six of the team's nine runs came by way of the home run, as Vojtech Mensik, Luca Tresh, Jonny Butler and Devonte Brown each went yard in the contest. It was the fourth time this season the squad has hit at least four homers in a single game.
Behind the hot bats was a dominant outing on the mound by Chris Villaman who yielded just two hits and one walk while fanning a career-best 12 batters in the eight innings he pitched. Matt Willadsen tossed the final inning of the contest and tallied two strikeouts for a combined 14 on the night, matching the team's season best in a single game.
SCOUTING PITT
The Panthers took two of three against Boston College last weekend in its last time out after coming off of a two-week pause due to COVID issues among the team.
Pitt has been nationally ranked in the latter part of the season, and enters the weekend ranked in all six major polls as its highest ranking comes from Baseball America and DI Baseball at No. 16. After being picked to finish seventh in the Coastal Division of the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Panthers are in second place among the division and own the third-best win percentage among the league.
Its top two players, Sky Duff (.343/.447/.500) and Nico Popa (.325/.403/.519), rank among the top 15 hitters in the ACC this year. As a team, Pitt is batting .269 and is averaging 5.77 runs per game and 9.28 hits per game.
On the mound, its starting rotation of Mitch Myers, Matt Gilbertson and Billy Corcoran owns a combined 1.66 earned-run average and 126 strikeouts in a combined 23 starts this year. Chase Smith and Jordan McCrum lead the bullpen with 21 and 17 appearances, respectively, and Smith paces the pen with 29 strikeouts.
ON DECK
Thursday, May 20 · vs. Florida State · 6:30 PM
Friday, May 21 · vs. Florida State · 6:30 PM
Saturday, May 22 · vs. Florida State · 1 PM
All three games will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra, and there will be a free audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the TuneIn App.
STARTING PITCHERS
Friday – RHP Reid Johnston (NCSU) vs. RHP Mitch Myers (PITT)
Saturday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. RHP Matt Gilbertson (PITT)
Sunday – TBA (NCSU) vs. RHP Billy Corcoran (PITT)
SERIES HISTORY
Heading into this weekend, NC State and Pitt have met a combined 10 times on the diamond as the Wolfpack leads the all-time series, 9-1.
Since the Panthers became a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the teams have played three series against each other in 2015, '17 and '19, and NC State has swept all three of them. The most recent meeting was on March 8-10, 2019 in Raleigh, and the Pack earned 4-3, 21-3 and 6-5 victories.
LAST TIME OUT
NC State remained red hot even after a nine-day break from competition on Tuesday evening as it downed UNCW, 9-1, at Doak Field at Dail Park.
Six of the team's nine runs came by way of the home run, as Vojtech Mensik, Luca Tresh, Jonny Butler and Devonte Brown each went yard in the contest. It was the fourth time this season the squad has hit at least four homers in a single game.
Behind the hot bats was a dominant outing on the mound by Chris Villaman who yielded just two hits and one walk while fanning a career-best 12 batters in the eight innings he pitched. Matt Willadsen tossed the final inning of the contest and tallied two strikeouts for a combined 14 on the night, matching the team's season best in a single game.
SCOUTING PITT
The Panthers took two of three against Boston College last weekend in its last time out after coming off of a two-week pause due to COVID issues among the team.
Pitt has been nationally ranked in the latter part of the season, and enters the weekend ranked in all six major polls as its highest ranking comes from Baseball America and DI Baseball at No. 16. After being picked to finish seventh in the Coastal Division of the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Panthers are in second place among the division and own the third-best win percentage among the league.
Its top two players, Sky Duff (.343/.447/.500) and Nico Popa (.325/.403/.519), rank among the top 15 hitters in the ACC this year. As a team, Pitt is batting .269 and is averaging 5.77 runs per game and 9.28 hits per game.
On the mound, its starting rotation of Mitch Myers, Matt Gilbertson and Billy Corcoran owns a combined 1.66 earned-run average and 126 strikeouts in a combined 23 starts this year. Chase Smith and Jordan McCrum lead the bullpen with 21 and 17 appearances, respectively, and Smith paces the pen with 29 strikeouts.
ON DECK
Thursday, May 20 · vs. Florida State · 6:30 PM
Friday, May 21 · vs. Florida State · 6:30 PM
Saturday, May 22 · vs. Florida State · 1 PM
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP/INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C/OF
/ Baseball
LHP/INF
/ Baseball
RHP/INF
/ BaseballAuburn Regional Preview: Elliott Avent on ACC PM
Thursday, May 29
Game Three Press Conference: Athens Super Regional
Tuesday, June 11
Game Two Press Conference: Athens Super Regional
Sunday, June 09
Game One Press Conference - Athens Super Regional
Saturday, June 08