#Pack9 Travels to Wilmington for In-State Matchup at UNCW

Tuesday, April 9

Wilmington, N.C.

6 p.m.

NC State

UNCW

Photo by: Mollie Mitchell

#Pack9 Travels to Wilmington for In-State Matchup at UNCW

4/8/2024 5:22:00 PM | Baseball

Watch Live Stats Listen NC State Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State baseball team continues its seven-game road stretch with a midweek matchup at UNCW on Tuesday night. Tuesday's game is set for 6 p.m.

Tuesday's contest will stream live on FloBaseball. This is a subscription-based service. A free audio stream will be available for Tuesday's contest on the Varsity Network App and will be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1.

THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST UNCW
NC State holds a 77-20 all-time advantage in the series against UNCW. More notes from the series against the Seahawks are listed below:

• NC State swept the two-game set against the Seahawks this past season, posting an 11-8 win in 10 innings on March 21 before completing the season sweep with a 12-3 victory at Doak Field on April 11. In the Wolfpack's home matchup against UNCW, NC State used an eight-run fourth inning to flip a 2-1 deficit into a 9-2 Wolfpack lead. The Pack stretched its advantage to 12-2 after the fifth as five batters tallied multi-hit performances.
• NC State has won 11 of its past 12 matchups against the Seahawks dating back to the 2016 season. The Wolfpack is 4-2 in Wilmington dating back to 2016.
• NC State and UNCW first met in 1971 as head coach Sam Esposito's team posted a 3-1 victory in Wilmington.

SCOUTING UNCW
UNCW (19-13, 7-2 CAA) went 2-2 this past week with a home midweek victory over No. 20 Coastal Carolina before dropping two games out of three to CAA rival College of Charleston over the weekend. The Seahawks got off to a hot start in league play, posting back-to-back sweeps over in-state foes Elon and North Carolina A&T to start 6-0 in CAA action. The Seahawks are 0-2 so far this season against ACC opponents, falling to Boston College and North Carolina in midweek matchups earlier in 2024. The Seahawks rank second in the CAA in home runs (49), homers per game (1.53) strikeouts per nine innings (9.6) and fielding percentage (.977). UNCW sophomore Tanner Thach leads the Seahawks with 16 homers, 42 RBI, 94 total bases, 42 hits and a 1.126 OPS.

MARCH MADNESS
NC State has had a flair for the dramatic so far this season, recording all five of its walk-off victories in the month of March. Five of NC State's 16 home wins have come via the walk-off. A list of NC State's five walk-off wins are below:

• March 1 (W, 6-5 vs. Towson): Drew Lanphere delivers a walk-off RBI single to score Noah Soles in the bottom of the ninth.
• March 8 (W, 5-4 vs. Boston College): Garrett Pennington drops in a walk-off single with two outs in the 11th inning for the Wolfpack's first ACC win of the year. Again, Noah Soles scores the game-winning run.
• March 23 (W, 9-8 vs. No. 9 Duke): Eli Serrano III's two-out, two-run homer completes a dramatic ninth-inning comeback as NC State erases a five-run deficit to clinch the series over the Blue Devils.
• March 29 (W, 7-6 vs. Notre Dame): Luke Nixon's career night ends with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, clinching a series victory for NC State.
• March 30 (W, 7-6 vs. Notre Dame): Garrett Pennington crushes NC State's second walk-off homer in as many weeks with a two-out, three-run blast to complete the sweep over the Fighting Irish.

MIDWEEK MADNESS
To add to its difficult ACC slate, NC State faces five nonconference opponents predicted inside the top three of their respective leagues' preseason polls. Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt) and East Carolina (American) are both the preseason favorites to win their conference crowns. UNCW and Campbell are predicted second and third, respectively, in the CAA, while Ball State was predicted second in the MAC. The Wolfpack knocked off its first preseason favorite on March 19 with a 9-8 comeback victory over the 13th-ranked Chanticleers.

NIXON AND NIXON
NC State's dugout will feature a pair of Nixons this spring as freshman Luke Nixon joined the NC State program this fall. Luke's older brother Chase made 32 appearances for the Wolfpack this past season with 18 starts, batting .319 with eight doubles, two homers, 37 total bases and 11 runs scored. Luke and Chase's father (Trot Nixon) played in the MLB from 1996-2008 and helped the Boston Red Sox win the 2004 World Series. The Nixon brothers will have a homecoming trip on Tuesday at UNCW. Both Chase and Luke graduated from Wilmington's New Hanover High School.

SWING AWAY
One pitch. One swing. 1-0 Wolfpack. Brandon Butterworth led of Sunday's game at Louisville with a homer on the first offering from Cardinals' starter Carson Liggett. Butterworth's leadoff homer marked the first time an NC State batter homered on the first pitch of the game since Devonte Brown on April 24, 2022, at Louisville. Butterworth's leadoff homer also marked the first leadoff homer in the top of the first for NC State since Brown on May 10, 2022, at UNCW.

HEATING UP
Garrett Pennington has heated up over the past three weeks, launching eight of his 10 home runs since the Wolfpack's midweek win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina on March 19. Pennington homered three times in the Wolfpack's series at Louisville, capping off the weekend with his third multi-homer game of the year with two long balls in the series finale. Pennington has recorded a two-homer performance in each of the Wolfpack's past three ACC series. Eight of his 10 home runs this season have come in ACC play. He leads the Pack in almost every offensive category in league play, highlighted by a team-high eight homers, 27 RBI, 53 total bases, six doubles and 16 runs scored against ACC opponents.

PENNY IN THE CLUTCH
Graduate transfer Garrett Pennington has already provided the Wolfpack with a few clutch moments in his first season 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. And once again on March 30, Pennington came up clutch with his second walk-off hit of the season, launching a two-out, three-run homer to flip a 6-4 deficit into a 7-6 win for NC State.

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 41 RBI. Only 29 games into the season, he is one of just five Pack9 players with three games with five RBI or more since 2000. Makarewicz has already tied his single-season career-high with 11 homers already this season.

• Justin Riley (2002) — 4
• Alec Makarewicz (2024) — 3
• Tommy White (2022) — 3
• Brett Kinneman (2018) — 3
• Tim Coffield (2002) — 3