Tuesday, April 4
Greenville, N.C.
5:30 p.m.
NC State
at
East Carolina
Photo by: Jaylynn Nash
Wolfpack Opens Road Swing at No. 12 East Carolina
4/3/2023 6:00:00 PM | Baseball
Tuesday's First Pitch Time in Greenville: 5:30 p.m.
RALEIGH – The NC State baseball team opens a four-game road swing at No. 12 East Carolina on Tuesday night. Tuesday's matchup at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium is set for 5:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.
A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for Tuesday's game with Andrew Sanders on the call. The midweek matchup will also be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1.
NC State (20-8, 5-7 ACC) holds a 70-41 record against East Carolina in the all-time series, winning four of the past five matchups over the Pirates.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Tuesday – RHP Baker Nelson (NCSU) vs. LHP Zach Root (East Carolina)
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST EAST CAROLINA
NC State enters this week's matchup against the Pirates with a 70-41 advantage in the all-time series, winning both matchups against East Carolina this past season. More notes from the series against ECU are listed below:
• NC State outscored East Carolina 14-3 between a pair of victories in 2022. The Pack shut out the Pirates 2-0 in Greenville on March 29 before blowing out ECU 12-3 at The Doak on April 26.
• J.T. Jarrett knocked in both runs for the Wolfpack in NC State's 2-0 win over East Carolina on March 29, 2022. Garrett Payne, Canaan Silver, Baker Nelson and Chris Villaman combined for the three-hit shutout in Greenville.
• The Wolfpack completed the two-game sweep of ECU on April 26 this past season, scoring six straight runs twice in the 12-3 victory. The Pack fell behind 1-0 before scoring six straight to take a 6-1 lead. NC State then scored the final six runs of the game.
• The Wolfpack has won four of its past five games against ECU, limiting the Pirates to just four runs in the Pack's four victories during that five-game stretch.
LAST TIME ON THE DIAMOND
The Wolfpack posted its first ACC series victory over the weekend against No. 11 Louisville, recording a 6-5 comeback victory on Friday before blanking the Cardinals 10-0 on Saturday to secure the series win. The Wolfpack dropped Sunday's matchup to the Cards 6-1. Starting pitchers Logan Whitaker (Friday) and Matt Willadsen (Saturday) shined in their respective starts, combining to throw 13.0 innings while allowing just one run and six total hits.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
For the first time since April 17-29, 2018, NC State will play at least seven straight games against a ranked opponent during the regular season. The Wolfpack captured two wins out of three over No. 11 Louisville over the weekend and faces No. 12 East Carolina on Tuesday followed by a huge ACC series at No. 2 Wake Forest this weekend. During the eight-game stretch in 2018, each opponent (North Carolina, Duke and East Carolina) was ranked inside the top 10. The Pack's current stretch is against teams ranked No. 12 or higher. NC State's longest stretch in recent memory against a ranked opponent (regular season/postseason) came during its run to the College World Series in 2021, playing eight straight games against teams inside the top 25.
PUTTING UP CROOKED NUMBERS
The Wolfpack offense has scored runs in bunches this season, posting 64 multi-run innings through just 28 games (2.29 per game). NC State's single-game high for runs scored in one inning was seven runs in the bottom of the seventh against Radford. NC State's single-game high for the number of multi-run innings is five, scoring multiple runs in a game five times in three different matchups.
COZART ON A ROLL
Sophomore catcher Jacob Cozart has been on fire in ACC play, batting a team-high .410 while pacing all Wolfpack hitters in hits (16), doubles (five), RBI (10), total bases (30) and on-base percentage (.510). Cozart ranks seventh among all ACC batters with a .410 batting average in ACC play, fifth with a .769 slugging percentage and sixth with a .510 on-base percentage.
STRIKE FIRST, STRIKE HARD, NO MERCY
NC State holds a 15-1 record when scoring first this season. The Pack has scored in the first inning 12 times and has scored in either the first or second inning 16 times in 2023.
SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina (20-8, 1-2 AAC) has already recorded two victories over an ACC foe this season, winning both its games over then-No. 12 North Carolina by a score of 6-5 in February. The Pirates dropped three of their four games this past week, falling 9-3 to UNCW before losing its first AAC series of the year at Houston. East Carolina's pitching staff has impressed all season long, ranking top-25 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9th, 3.15), ERA (10th, 3.37), WHIP (11th, 1.22) and walks allowed per nine innings (23rd, 3.37). At the plate, the Pirates have six batters hitting .300 or better with 40 or more at-bats on the season. Josh Moylan paces the Pirates with 22 runs scored, 24 RBI and is tied with Jacob Jenkins-Cowart for the team-lead in doubles (10).
RECORD AGAINST IN-STATE OPPONENTS
The Wolfpack finished with a 13-9 record against in-state opponents in 2022, including a 9-2 record against in-state nonconference opponents. NC State is 3-1 against in-state opponents this season, completing the season sweep of UNCG on Tuesday while also earning an 11-8 win in extra innnings at UNCW. The Pack's sole nonconference loss this season came at home to Elon on March 14.
Since taking over the NC State baseball program in 1997, head coach Elliott Avent has led the Pack to a 348-172 (.669) record against in-state opponents.
#Pack9 | @NCStateBaseball
A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for Tuesday's game with Andrew Sanders on the call. The midweek matchup will also be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1.
NC State (20-8, 5-7 ACC) holds a 70-41 record against East Carolina in the all-time series, winning four of the past five matchups over the Pirates.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Tuesday – RHP Baker Nelson (NCSU) vs. LHP Zach Root (East Carolina)
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST EAST CAROLINA
NC State enters this week's matchup against the Pirates with a 70-41 advantage in the all-time series, winning both matchups against East Carolina this past season. More notes from the series against ECU are listed below:
• NC State outscored East Carolina 14-3 between a pair of victories in 2022. The Pack shut out the Pirates 2-0 in Greenville on March 29 before blowing out ECU 12-3 at The Doak on April 26.
• J.T. Jarrett knocked in both runs for the Wolfpack in NC State's 2-0 win over East Carolina on March 29, 2022. Garrett Payne, Canaan Silver, Baker Nelson and Chris Villaman combined for the three-hit shutout in Greenville.
• The Wolfpack completed the two-game sweep of ECU on April 26 this past season, scoring six straight runs twice in the 12-3 victory. The Pack fell behind 1-0 before scoring six straight to take a 6-1 lead. NC State then scored the final six runs of the game.
• The Wolfpack has won four of its past five games against ECU, limiting the Pirates to just four runs in the Pack's four victories during that five-game stretch.
LAST TIME ON THE DIAMOND
The Wolfpack posted its first ACC series victory over the weekend against No. 11 Louisville, recording a 6-5 comeback victory on Friday before blanking the Cardinals 10-0 on Saturday to secure the series win. The Wolfpack dropped Sunday's matchup to the Cards 6-1. Starting pitchers Logan Whitaker (Friday) and Matt Willadsen (Saturday) shined in their respective starts, combining to throw 13.0 innings while allowing just one run and six total hits.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
For the first time since April 17-29, 2018, NC State will play at least seven straight games against a ranked opponent during the regular season. The Wolfpack captured two wins out of three over No. 11 Louisville over the weekend and faces No. 12 East Carolina on Tuesday followed by a huge ACC series at No. 2 Wake Forest this weekend. During the eight-game stretch in 2018, each opponent (North Carolina, Duke and East Carolina) was ranked inside the top 10. The Pack's current stretch is against teams ranked No. 12 or higher. NC State's longest stretch in recent memory against a ranked opponent (regular season/postseason) came during its run to the College World Series in 2021, playing eight straight games against teams inside the top 25.
PUTTING UP CROOKED NUMBERS
The Wolfpack offense has scored runs in bunches this season, posting 64 multi-run innings through just 28 games (2.29 per game). NC State's single-game high for runs scored in one inning was seven runs in the bottom of the seventh against Radford. NC State's single-game high for the number of multi-run innings is five, scoring multiple runs in a game five times in three different matchups.
COZART ON A ROLL
Sophomore catcher Jacob Cozart has been on fire in ACC play, batting a team-high .410 while pacing all Wolfpack hitters in hits (16), doubles (five), RBI (10), total bases (30) and on-base percentage (.510). Cozart ranks seventh among all ACC batters with a .410 batting average in ACC play, fifth with a .769 slugging percentage and sixth with a .510 on-base percentage.
STRIKE FIRST, STRIKE HARD, NO MERCY
NC State holds a 15-1 record when scoring first this season. The Pack has scored in the first inning 12 times and has scored in either the first or second inning 16 times in 2023.
SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina (20-8, 1-2 AAC) has already recorded two victories over an ACC foe this season, winning both its games over then-No. 12 North Carolina by a score of 6-5 in February. The Pirates dropped three of their four games this past week, falling 9-3 to UNCW before losing its first AAC series of the year at Houston. East Carolina's pitching staff has impressed all season long, ranking top-25 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9th, 3.15), ERA (10th, 3.37), WHIP (11th, 1.22) and walks allowed per nine innings (23rd, 3.37). At the plate, the Pirates have six batters hitting .300 or better with 40 or more at-bats on the season. Josh Moylan paces the Pirates with 22 runs scored, 24 RBI and is tied with Jacob Jenkins-Cowart for the team-lead in doubles (10).
RECORD AGAINST IN-STATE OPPONENTS
The Wolfpack finished with a 13-9 record against in-state opponents in 2022, including a 9-2 record against in-state nonconference opponents. NC State is 3-1 against in-state opponents this season, completing the season sweep of UNCG on Tuesday while also earning an 11-8 win in extra innnings at UNCW. The Pack's sole nonconference loss this season came at home to Elon on March 14.
Since taking over the NC State baseball program in 1997, head coach Elliott Avent has led the Pack to a 348-172 (.669) record against in-state opponents.
#Pack9 | @NCStateBaseball
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