Wolfpack Hosts #9 Duke for ACC Series

Friday, March 22

Raleigh, N.C.

1 p.m.

NC State

Duke

3/21/2024 4:02:00 PM | Baseball

Watch Listen Live Stats NC State Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State baseball team closes out its brief four-game homestand against Tobacco Road rival Duke this weekend. This weekend's series against the ninth-ranked Blue Devils at Doak Field at Dail Park will run Friday through Sunday with first pitch times set for 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. Friday's first pitch was moved from 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. due to inclement weather on Friday night.

Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. Saturday's game will be NC State's first on national television as the 3 p.m. contest will be televised on ACC Network.

A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for all three contests. The games will also be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1.

PROJECTED STARTING PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. LHP Jonathan Santucci (Duke)
Saturday – RHP Logan Whitaker (NCSU) vs. RHP Ryan Higgins (Duke)
Sunday – LHP Dominic Fritton (NCSU) vs. TBD (Duke)

THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST DUKE
NC State is 168-128-1 all-time in the series against Duke. More notes from the series against the Blue Devils are listed below:

• Sunday's matchup between the Wolfpack and Blue Devils will mark the 300th game between the two Triangle-based programs. NC State has won seven of the past 10 weekend series against the Blue Devils.
• NC State last hosted Duke for a three-game set back in 2016, taking two games out of three at The Doak. The Wolfpack notched a 3-2 victory in the series opener before blowing out the Blue Devils 12-2 in game two to take the series. Duke avoided the sweep with a 2-1 win on Sunday.
• The Wolfpack has won its past three weekend series against Duke, winning the first two games of each of those respective sets. Duke's last series victory over the Wolfpack came in 2014, taking games one and three in Durham.
• NC State and Duke most recently met in Durham during the 2023 ACC Tournament. The Wolfpack registered an 8-7 win in 11 innings at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Duke erased NC State's 7-1 lead to send the game to extra innings. Logan Whitaker pitched two scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts to help the Pack secure a key postseason victory over the Blue Devils.

SCOUTING DUKE
Duke (16-5, 3-3 ACC) ranks in the top three of a plethora of statistical categories, including first in HBPs (36) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.15), second in home runs (48), home runs per game (2.29) and slugging percentage (.599), and third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.7) and hits (246). The Blue Devils opened ACC play with a series victory at then top-ranked Wake Forest, taking games one and three to jump into the top 10 of the D1Baseball rankings. The Blue Devils dropped two games out of three to No. 10 Clemson this past weekend but responded with a 12-2 run-rule victory over Towson on Tuesday. Duke ace Jonathan Santucci ranks seven nationally with 46 strikeouts and 16.78 strikeouts per nine innings. As a staff, the Blue Devils have sported a 3.44 ERA, which ranks second in the league and 10th nationally.

TIME TO BOUNCE BACK
For the first time since April 2-9 this past season, NC State dropped four straight games following the series sweep at Georgia Tech. When the Pack last lost four straight in 2023, NC State responded with five straight victories, highlighted by a series sweep at home over Florida State. The Wolfpack also logged midweek victories over Davidson and UNCW during that five-game winning streak. NC State snapped its four-game losing streak in a big way on Tuesday night with a 9-8 comeback victory over No. 13 Coastal Carolina.

PENNY IN THE CLUTCH
Graduate transfer Garrett Pennington has already provided the Wolfpack with a pair of clutch moments in his first 19 games in an NC State uniform. Pennington's walk-off single helped the Wolfpack open ACC play with a 5-4 victory in 11 innings over Boston College on March 8. Eleven days later, Pennington came up clutch once again with a go-ahead RBI double in the bottom of the eighth as the Pack notched a 9-8 comeback victory over Coastal Carolina.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
On the season, NC State ranks just 12th nationally in doubles and doubles per game. However, the Pack ranks first in both categories in ACC competition, logging 16 total doubles and 2.67 doubles per game through the first two weekends of ACC play.

RECORD AGAINST IN-STATE OPPONENTS
NC State finished 9-8 against in-state opponents in 2023, completing season sweeps of UNCG and UNCW before splitting a pair of NCAA Tournament matchups against No. 12 Campbell in June. The Pack's only nonconference losses came to in-state opponents Elon (March 14) and No. 12 East Carolina (April 4). NC State also recorded a 22-7 win over Davidson on April 18, a 5-4 victory over No. 12 ECU on April 25, a 6-5 win over NC A&T on May and an 8-7 win over Duke at the ACC Tournament on May 23. Wednesday's matchup against Queens will be the Pack's first against an in-state team this season.

Since taking over the NC State baseball program in 1997, head coach Elliott Avent has led the Pack to a 355-180 (.664) record against in-state opponents. NC State is 1-1 against in-state opponents so far this season.

HOME SUCCESS AT THE DOAK
Welcome to our house. Doak Field at Dail Park has served as a dominant home field advantage for the Wolfpack since 1966. In 2023, the Pack finished with a 26-7 record at The Doak. Since head coach Elliott Avent returned to Raleigh to take over the #Pack9 program in 1997, NC State has posted a 611-227 (.729) record in games played at Doak Field at Dail Park. NC State has won 20 or more games at the Doak 21 times since Avent's first year as head coach in 1997.

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 is 4-4 so far this season when falling behind first, highlighted by Tuesday's 9-8 comeback victory over No. 13 Coastal Carolina.