Friday, February 23
Manoa, Hawaii
6:35 p.m. HST/11:35 p.m. ET
NC State
at
Hawaii
Photo by: Mollie Mitchell
#13 Wolfpack Opens Weekend Series at Hawaii on Friday
2/21/2024 10:00:00 PM | Baseball
HONOLULU – The No. 13 NC State baseball team opens its three-game road series at Hawaii on Friday at the Rainbow Warriors' Les Murakami Stadium. This weekend's series will run Friday through Sunday with first pitch times scheduled for 11:35 p.m. ET, 11:35 p.m. ET and 6:05 p.m. ET, respectively.
Friday's game will be televised on Spectrum Sports and streamed live on ESPN+. A free audio stream will be available for Friday's contest on the Varsity Network App and will be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1.
No live video stream will be available for Saturday and Sunday's games in Honolulu. Due to scheduling conflicts and travel limitations, there will be no NC State baseball radio broadcast for Saturday or Sunday's games at Les Murakami Stadium. Fans can still tune in to Hawaii's radio feed by clicking here.
Live stats will be available for all three games. Links for all three games of this weekend's series are listed above.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Friday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. LHP Harrison Bodendorf (Hawaii)
Saturday – LHP Dominic Fritton (NCSU) vs. LHP Randy Abshier (Hawaii)
Sunday – LHP Ryan Marohn (NCSU) vs. TBD (Hawaii)
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST HAWAII
NC State holds a 2-1 advantage in the series against Hawaii, winning two games out of three in the sole series meeting back in 2017. More notes from the series against VCU are listed below:
• NC State opened its 2017 campaign with a weekend series at Hawaii, winning matchups on Friday and Sunday to head back home to Raleigh with a series victory.
• The Wolfpack captured game one of the first and only previous series meeting 4-0 on Feb. 17, 2017. The pitching trio of starter Sean Adler, Austin Staley and Zach Usselman combined to allow just five hits in the shutout victory.
• NC State secured the series victory over the Rainbow Warriors with an 8-1 win on Feb. 19, 2017. Brett Kinneman, Evan Mendoza and Joe Dunand each logged multi-hit performances in the win. Starting pitcher Tommy Dejuneas earned the pitching victory after tossing 5.2 scoreless innings.
• While NC State didn't open its season on the road in 2024, the last time the Wolfpack didn't open the year at Doak Field at Dail Park was its series in Manoa in 2017.
1,000 WINS IN RED AND WHITE
Head coach Elliott Avent achieved yet another milestone in his coaching career in Sunday's 5-3 series-clinching victory over VCU. With the win, Avent captured his 1,000th win as the head coach at NC State. He became the fifth active Division I head coach with 1,000 wins at one school with two wins over his alma mater, VCU. The 28-year Wolfpack head coach joins Danny Hall (Georgia Tech), Keith Guttin (Missouri State), John Anderson (Minnesota) and Gary Gilmore (Coastal Carolina) on the active list. He also became the 35th qualifying Division I head coach (active or inactive) to reach 1,000 wins at one school. Avent's 1,000th victory with the Pack came exactly 9,864 days following his first win at NC State on Feb. 15, 1997, over Charleston Southern (6-0).
SCOUTING HAWAII
Hawaii (2-2) opened its season with a series split against Ole Miss at Les Murakami Stadium. The Rainbow Warriors dropped their first two matchups before posting a pair of victories by a combined margin of victory of 22-5. Freshman infielder Elijah Ickes leads the Rainbow Warriors with a .556 batting average (5-for-9), six runs scored, five hits and a .714 on-base percentage. The Hawaii offense found multiple ways to get runners on base throughout its opening series against the Rebels, drawing 27 walks and earning seven free passes via hit batsmen, both of which rank first in the Big West and top 40 in the nation. Hawaii head coach Rich Hill and Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent also meet in a matchup of two of the nine active head coaches with 1,000 career victories or more.
NEWCOMERS SHINE ON THE MOUND
NC State's pitching staff has many new, young faces in 2024. Those young faces got valuable experience on opening weekend against VCU as five new Wolfpack pitchers made their debuts. Freshmen Ryan Marohn, Jacob Dudan and Jaxon Lucas each made the first appearances of their college careers, while sophomore Shane Van Dam and senior Hollis Fanning each made their first pitching appearances in a Wolfpack uniform. NC State's freshman trio of Marohn, Dudan and Lucas combined to toss nine innings while allowing just one run, five hits, four walks with 13 strikeouts. Van Dam dominated in his Division I debut, tossing four scoreless innings with five strikeouts to close out the Pack's Opening Day victory.
FRESHMAN SLUGGERS SHINE IN DEBUTS
NC State true freshmen Alex Sosa and Luke Nixon each earned their first-career starts this weekend against VCU. Redshirt freshman Drew Lanphere also earned his first start in Sunday's series-clinching win over the Rams. Sosa, Nixon and Lanphere each logged their first-career hits and an RBI over this past weekend. Sophomore transfer Josh Hogue also logged a base hit in the first start of his Wolfpack career on Friday.
FRIDAYS ARE FOR THE MAYOR
Sam Highfill, often referred to as The Mayor by his teammates, got the second Opening Day start of his Wolfpack career in Friday's season opener against VCU. After allowing the first three baserunners to reach, Highfill settled in and allowed just one run and one hit over five innings, striking out six batters to earn his second win on Opening Day in his Wolfpack career. His first Opening Day victory came in the Pack's 24-6 Opening Day victory over Evansville on Feb. 18, 2022.
COMEBACK PACK
NC State rallied to win 11 times (30.6% or 11/36 of its wins in 2023) this past season after going behind first. The Wolfpack fell behind early on Opening Day before scoring six unanswered runs in a dominant 6-1 victory over VCU this past Friday.
HEADING WEST (LIKE REALLY WEST)
NC State's first road series of 2024 will take place in Hawaii, the 50th state to join the United States all the way back in 1959. The Wolfpack's three-game series at Hawaii will also mark its first regular season game played outside the Eastern Time Zone since March 1, 2020, when NC State defeated Minnesota 11-7 in U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to cap off a perfect 3-0 weekend against three different Big 10 teams. The Pack's most recent matchup outside of the Eastern Time Zone came in the 2021 College World Series in a 3-1 defeat to Vanderbilt on June 25, 2021.
Friday's game will be televised on Spectrum Sports and streamed live on ESPN+. A free audio stream will be available for Friday's contest on the Varsity Network App and will be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1.
No live video stream will be available for Saturday and Sunday's games in Honolulu. Due to scheduling conflicts and travel limitations, there will be no NC State baseball radio broadcast for Saturday or Sunday's games at Les Murakami Stadium. Fans can still tune in to Hawaii's radio feed by clicking here.
Live stats will be available for all three games. Links for all three games of this weekend's series are listed above.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Friday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. LHP Harrison Bodendorf (Hawaii)
Saturday – LHP Dominic Fritton (NCSU) vs. LHP Randy Abshier (Hawaii)
Sunday – LHP Ryan Marohn (NCSU) vs. TBD (Hawaii)
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST HAWAII
NC State holds a 2-1 advantage in the series against Hawaii, winning two games out of three in the sole series meeting back in 2017. More notes from the series against VCU are listed below:
• NC State opened its 2017 campaign with a weekend series at Hawaii, winning matchups on Friday and Sunday to head back home to Raleigh with a series victory.
• The Wolfpack captured game one of the first and only previous series meeting 4-0 on Feb. 17, 2017. The pitching trio of starter Sean Adler, Austin Staley and Zach Usselman combined to allow just five hits in the shutout victory.
• NC State secured the series victory over the Rainbow Warriors with an 8-1 win on Feb. 19, 2017. Brett Kinneman, Evan Mendoza and Joe Dunand each logged multi-hit performances in the win. Starting pitcher Tommy Dejuneas earned the pitching victory after tossing 5.2 scoreless innings.
• While NC State didn't open its season on the road in 2024, the last time the Wolfpack didn't open the year at Doak Field at Dail Park was its series in Manoa in 2017.
1,000 WINS IN RED AND WHITE
Head coach Elliott Avent achieved yet another milestone in his coaching career in Sunday's 5-3 series-clinching victory over VCU. With the win, Avent captured his 1,000th win as the head coach at NC State. He became the fifth active Division I head coach with 1,000 wins at one school with two wins over his alma mater, VCU. The 28-year Wolfpack head coach joins Danny Hall (Georgia Tech), Keith Guttin (Missouri State), John Anderson (Minnesota) and Gary Gilmore (Coastal Carolina) on the active list. He also became the 35th qualifying Division I head coach (active or inactive) to reach 1,000 wins at one school. Avent's 1,000th victory with the Pack came exactly 9,864 days following his first win at NC State on Feb. 15, 1997, over Charleston Southern (6-0).
SCOUTING HAWAII
Hawaii (2-2) opened its season with a series split against Ole Miss at Les Murakami Stadium. The Rainbow Warriors dropped their first two matchups before posting a pair of victories by a combined margin of victory of 22-5. Freshman infielder Elijah Ickes leads the Rainbow Warriors with a .556 batting average (5-for-9), six runs scored, five hits and a .714 on-base percentage. The Hawaii offense found multiple ways to get runners on base throughout its opening series against the Rebels, drawing 27 walks and earning seven free passes via hit batsmen, both of which rank first in the Big West and top 40 in the nation. Hawaii head coach Rich Hill and Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent also meet in a matchup of two of the nine active head coaches with 1,000 career victories or more.
NEWCOMERS SHINE ON THE MOUND
NC State's pitching staff has many new, young faces in 2024. Those young faces got valuable experience on opening weekend against VCU as five new Wolfpack pitchers made their debuts. Freshmen Ryan Marohn, Jacob Dudan and Jaxon Lucas each made the first appearances of their college careers, while sophomore Shane Van Dam and senior Hollis Fanning each made their first pitching appearances in a Wolfpack uniform. NC State's freshman trio of Marohn, Dudan and Lucas combined to toss nine innings while allowing just one run, five hits, four walks with 13 strikeouts. Van Dam dominated in his Division I debut, tossing four scoreless innings with five strikeouts to close out the Pack's Opening Day victory.
FRESHMAN SLUGGERS SHINE IN DEBUTS
NC State true freshmen Alex Sosa and Luke Nixon each earned their first-career starts this weekend against VCU. Redshirt freshman Drew Lanphere also earned his first start in Sunday's series-clinching win over the Rams. Sosa, Nixon and Lanphere each logged their first-career hits and an RBI over this past weekend. Sophomore transfer Josh Hogue also logged a base hit in the first start of his Wolfpack career on Friday.
FRIDAYS ARE FOR THE MAYOR
Sam Highfill, often referred to as The Mayor by his teammates, got the second Opening Day start of his Wolfpack career in Friday's season opener against VCU. After allowing the first three baserunners to reach, Highfill settled in and allowed just one run and one hit over five innings, striking out six batters to earn his second win on Opening Day in his Wolfpack career. His first Opening Day victory came in the Pack's 24-6 Opening Day victory over Evansville on Feb. 18, 2022.
COMEBACK PACK
NC State rallied to win 11 times (30.6% or 11/36 of its wins in 2023) this past season after going behind first. The Wolfpack fell behind early on Opening Day before scoring six unanswered runs in a dominant 6-1 victory over VCU this past Friday.
HEADING WEST (LIKE REALLY WEST)
NC State's first road series of 2024 will take place in Hawaii, the 50th state to join the United States all the way back in 1959. The Wolfpack's three-game series at Hawaii will also mark its first regular season game played outside the Eastern Time Zone since March 1, 2020, when NC State defeated Minnesota 11-7 in U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to cap off a perfect 3-0 weekend against three different Big 10 teams. The Pack's most recent matchup outside of the Eastern Time Zone came in the 2021 College World Series in a 3-1 defeat to Vanderbilt on June 25, 2021.
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