Thursday, March 28
Raleigh, N.C.
7 p.m.
NC State
vs
Notre Dame
Photo by: Mollie Mitchell
#22 Wolfpack Opens ACC Series Thursday Night Against Notre Dame
3/27/2024 4:16:00 PM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 22 NC State baseball team opens an ACC home series against Notre Dame on Thursday night at Doak Field at Dail Park. This weekend's series against the Fighting Irish will run Thursday through Saturday with first pitch times set for 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
Thursday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. Friday's game will be televised on ACC Network.
A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for all three contests. All of Thursday and Saturday's games will be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1. Friday's baseball game will also join-in to WKNC 88.1 following the conclusion of Wolfpack women's basketball Sweet 16 matchup Friday night.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. RHP Matt Bedford (Notre Dame)
Friday – RHP Logan Whitaker (NCSU) vs. RHP Jack Radel (Notre Dame)
Saturday – TBA (NCSU) vs. RHP Rory Fox (Notre Dame)
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST NOTRE DAME
NC State holds a 15-13 advantage in the series against Notre Dame. More notes from the series against the Fighting Irish are listed below:
• For the first time since 2018, NC State posted a series victory over Notre Dame after winning two games out of three in South Bend this past season. The Wolfpack dropped game one 9-7 before shutting down the Fighting Irish offense with a 5-1 win on Friday and a 6-1 victory on Saturday. The Pack allowed a combined 11 hits over the final two games of the series. Matt Willadsen and Sam Highfill notched the wins on the mound in the key ACC road series victory. The successful weekend also marked NC State's first series win at Notre Dame.
• NC State's most recent series win over Notre Dame in Raleigh came on April 13-14, 2018. Similar to its series victory in 2023, the Pack bounced back from a loss in game one with victories in games two and three. The Pack outscored outscored Notre Dame 25-7 in the doubleheader sweep to take the series.
• NC State and Notre Dame first met on Jan. 31, 1998, with the Wolfpack notching a 10-8 victory. The win marked head coach Elliott Avent's first win of his second season in charge of the Wolfpack program.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame (14-9, 2-7 ACC) snapped its 0-6 start to conference play with a series victory over Miami this past weekend, winning the first two games to clinch the series against the Hurricanes. The Fighting Irish opened the season 9-2 with series sweeps at Rice and Tennessee Tech and holds a 12-2 record in nonconference play this season. TJ Williams paces the Irish offense with a .434 batting average, 33 hits, seven stolen bases and a .527 on-base percentage. Notre Dame's pitching staff has posted a 6.53 ERA this season and a 7.22 ERA in nine ACC games.
WHAT A COMEBACK
NC State completed one of its most memorable comebacks in recent memory in Saturday's 9-8 series-clinching win over No. 9 Duke. Faced with an 8-2 deficit in the eighth inning, Garrett Pennington trimmed the score to 8-3 with a solo home run in the eighth. The Wolfpack then scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth to flip an 8-3 deficit into a 9-8 win. Eli Serrano III hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer on a 3-2 count, crushing an inside pitch down the right-field line for the win. Serrano III was mobbed at home plate as the Pack completed its third straight comeback victory over a ranked opponent. It was NC State's first time overcoming a multi-run deficit in the ninth inning to win since a 6-5 win over No. 11 Louisville on March 31, 2023.
BOUNCED 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 last week, reeling off three straight comeback, one-run victories over top-15 opponents to earn a midweek win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina and a series win over No. 9 Duke. The last time NC State recorded three straight one-run victories was April 12-15, 2022, when the Pack earned a 7-6 midweek win over UNCW before notching back-to-back one-run wins to open a series sweep of Boston College.
PACK BACK IN TOP 25
NC State's 3-1 week against ranked opponents also helped NC State jump back into this week's D1Baseball rankings. The Wolfpack (No. 22) is one of eight ACC teams in this week's top 25.
A-MAK ATTACK
Graduate transfer third baseman Alec Makarewicz has been on a tear in his first season at NC State, leading the Pack with 37 RBI and ranking first in the ACC and tied for fourth nationally with 1.68 RBI per game. Makarewicz already has three performances with five RBI or more this season. Only 22 games into the season, he is one of just five Pack9 players with three games with five RBI or more since 2000.
• Justin Riley (2002) — 4
• Alec Makarewicz (2024) — 3
• Tommy White (2022) — 3
• Brett Kinneman (2018) — 3
• Tim Coffield (2002) — 3
FLIP THE SCRIPT: THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Since 2014, NC State has played 21 games on Thursdays. The Wolfpack is only 8-13 in those matchups, going 1-4 in games played on Thursdays this past season. The Wolfpack dropped its only game of the Notre Dame series this past season on a Thursday. The Pack has three regular-season matchups scheduled on Thursdays in 2024.
PENNY IN THE CLUTCH
Graduate transfer Garrett Pennington has already provided the Wolfpack with a few clutch moments in his first 22 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. In Saturday's six-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth over No. 9 Duke, Pennington launched a three-run homer to make it a one-run game.
Thursday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. Friday's game will be televised on ACC Network.
A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for all three contests. All of Thursday and Saturday's games will be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1. Friday's baseball game will also join-in to WKNC 88.1 following the conclusion of Wolfpack women's basketball Sweet 16 matchup Friday night.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. RHP Matt Bedford (Notre Dame)
Friday – RHP Logan Whitaker (NCSU) vs. RHP Jack Radel (Notre Dame)
Saturday – TBA (NCSU) vs. RHP Rory Fox (Notre Dame)
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST NOTRE DAME
NC State holds a 15-13 advantage in the series against Notre Dame. More notes from the series against the Fighting Irish are listed below:
• For the first time since 2018, NC State posted a series victory over Notre Dame after winning two games out of three in South Bend this past season. The Wolfpack dropped game one 9-7 before shutting down the Fighting Irish offense with a 5-1 win on Friday and a 6-1 victory on Saturday. The Pack allowed a combined 11 hits over the final two games of the series. Matt Willadsen and Sam Highfill notched the wins on the mound in the key ACC road series victory. The successful weekend also marked NC State's first series win at Notre Dame.
• NC State's most recent series win over Notre Dame in Raleigh came on April 13-14, 2018. Similar to its series victory in 2023, the Pack bounced back from a loss in game one with victories in games two and three. The Pack outscored outscored Notre Dame 25-7 in the doubleheader sweep to take the series.
• NC State and Notre Dame first met on Jan. 31, 1998, with the Wolfpack notching a 10-8 victory. The win marked head coach Elliott Avent's first win of his second season in charge of the Wolfpack program.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame (14-9, 2-7 ACC) snapped its 0-6 start to conference play with a series victory over Miami this past weekend, winning the first two games to clinch the series against the Hurricanes. The Fighting Irish opened the season 9-2 with series sweeps at Rice and Tennessee Tech and holds a 12-2 record in nonconference play this season. TJ Williams paces the Irish offense with a .434 batting average, 33 hits, seven stolen bases and a .527 on-base percentage. Notre Dame's pitching staff has posted a 6.53 ERA this season and a 7.22 ERA in nine ACC games.
WHAT A COMEBACK
NC State completed one of its most memorable comebacks in recent memory in Saturday's 9-8 series-clinching win over No. 9 Duke. Faced with an 8-2 deficit in the eighth inning, Garrett Pennington trimmed the score to 8-3 with a solo home run in the eighth. The Wolfpack then scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth to flip an 8-3 deficit into a 9-8 win. Eli Serrano III hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer on a 3-2 count, crushing an inside pitch down the right-field line for the win. Serrano III was mobbed at home plate as the Pack completed its third straight comeback victory over a ranked opponent. It was NC State's first time overcoming a multi-run deficit in the ninth inning to win since a 6-5 win over No. 11 Louisville on March 31, 2023.
BOUNCED 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 last week, reeling off three straight comeback, one-run victories over top-15 opponents to earn a midweek win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina and a series win over No. 9 Duke. The last time NC State recorded three straight one-run victories was April 12-15, 2022, when the Pack earned a 7-6 midweek win over UNCW before notching back-to-back one-run wins to open a series sweep of Boston College.
PACK BACK IN TOP 25
NC State's 3-1 week against ranked opponents also helped NC State jump back into this week's D1Baseball rankings. The Wolfpack (No. 22) is one of eight ACC teams in this week's top 25.
A-MAK ATTACK
Graduate transfer third baseman Alec Makarewicz has been on a tear in his first season at NC State, leading the Pack with 37 RBI and ranking first in the ACC and tied for fourth nationally with 1.68 RBI per game. Makarewicz already has three performances with five RBI or more this season. Only 22 games into the season, he is one of just five Pack9 players with three games with five RBI or more since 2000.
• Justin Riley (2002) — 4
• Alec Makarewicz (2024) — 3
• Tommy White (2022) — 3
• Brett Kinneman (2018) — 3
• Tim Coffield (2002) — 3
FLIP THE SCRIPT: THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Since 2014, NC State has played 21 games on Thursdays. The Wolfpack is only 8-13 in those matchups, going 1-4 in games played on Thursdays this past season. The Wolfpack dropped its only game of the Notre Dame series this past season on a Thursday. The Pack has three regular-season matchups scheduled on Thursdays in 2024.
PENNY IN THE CLUTCH
Graduate transfer Garrett Pennington has already provided the Wolfpack with a few clutch moments in his first 22 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. In Saturday's six-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth over No. 9 Duke, Pennington launched a three-run homer to make it a one-run game.
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