Thursday, May 16
Raleigh, N.C.
7 p.m.
NC State
vs
Wake Forest
#17 Pack9 Concludes Regular Season Slate Against #8 Wake Forest
5/15/2024 4:48:00 PM | Baseball
Wolfpack to Honor its Seniors Prior to Saturday’s Game
RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 17 NC State baseball team returns to Raleigh for its final regular season series against No. 8 Wake Forest. This weekend's series against the Demon Deacons will run Thursday through Saturday with first pitch times set for 7 p.m., 7 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
Friday's matchup will be televised on ACC Network. Thursday and Saturday's games will stream live on ACC Network Extra. A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for all three contests. All three games will also be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1 with Tony Haynes on the call.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. RHP David Falco Jr. (Wake Forest)
Friday – LHP Dominic Fritton (NCSU) vs. RHP Chase Burns (Wake Forest)
Saturday – TBA (NCSU) vs. LHP Josh Hartle (Wake Forest)
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST WAKE FOREST
NC State holds a 126-68 advantage in the series against Wake Forest. More notes from the series against the Demon Deacons are listed below:
• NC State looks to snap a five-game regular season losing streak to the Demon Deacons in Thursday night's series opener at The Doak. Wake Forest swept a rare Easter Sunday doubleheader this past season in Winston-Salem and won all three games in Raleigh in the Pack's final ACC series of the 2022 season.
• The Wolfpack's most recent win in the series came in its ACC Tournament opener in 2022. After dropping three straight games to close out the regular season, the Pack responded with an 11-8 victory in its first postseason matchup of the year. NC State slugged three homers and rallied from an early 4-0 deficit in the victory.
• NC State won two games out of three at Wake Forest from April 30 to May 2, 2021. The Pack and Demon Deacons split the first two games before NC State captured a series-clinching 15-8 victory at The Couch.
• The Wolfpack's most recent home series victory over Wake Forest came in a sweep, winning all three games at Doak Field from May 11-13, 2018.
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST
Wake Forest (36-16, 15-12 ACC) jumped back into the top 10 of D1Baseball's poll after completing a three-game sweep of then-No. 2 Clemson in Winston-Salem. Demon Deacon ace Chase Burns pitched a gem in the series opener, limiting the Tigers to just two hits and one runs with 16 strikeouts. Burns, the nation's leader with 156 strikeouts, earned his fifth ACC Pitcher of the Week award following the dominant performance. The Demon Deacons rank first in the ACC in walks drawn (336), HBPs (74), home runs (100), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.55) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.9). The Demon Deacons have won nine straight since a series loss at Notre Dame on April 28, opening the month of May with an 8-0 record. Offensively, five Wake Forest batters have reached double-digit tallies in home runs, highlighted by Nick Kurtz's 20 homers in just 46 games played.
TOUGH SLATE
NC State has exceled so far during its gauntlet of a finish to ACC play with all of its final five ACC series coming against top 15 teams in the D1Baseball Top 25 at the time of the games being played. The Wolfpack has secured at least a series split in five straight weekend series, highlighted by series victories over then-No. 2 Clemson, then-No. 11 North Carolina and then-No. 10 Virginia.
NC State's strength of schedule checks in at No. 6 nationally, according to warrennolan.com. The Pack's strength of schedule ranks second in the ACC and just one spot behind Wake Forest (No. 5). The Wolfpack also has nine wins over Quadrant I opponents. The Wolfpack is also a perfect 9-0 against Quadrant IV opponents.
STAYING ALIVE
Statistically, NC State's lineup is the toughest to strike out in the ACC, averaging a league low 6.38 strikeouts per game. The Wolfpack has only struck out 306 times in 48 games this season. NC State also has the lowest strikeout clip in ACC play, averaging just 7.31 strikeouts per game against league opponents.
"HE GETS ON BASE"
NC State has five players with reached-base streaks of 10 games of more -- Alec Makarewicz (15), Jacob Cozart (12), Eli Serrano III (11), Chase Nixon (11) and Brandon Butterworth (10). Makarewicz is also on a 15-game hitting streak, which is not only the longest active streak on the roster, but it's also the longest streak for a Pack9 player this entire season.
SENIOR DAY SENDOFF
NC State will honor nine players and two student managers for Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Doak Field at Dail Park. Student-athletes Carson Falsken, Noah Soles, Garrett Payne, Matt Willadsen, Garrett Pennington, P.J. Labriola, John Miralia, Hollis Fanning and Alec Makarewicz will be honored pregame. Student managers Tyler DeJong and Andrew Kissell will also be honored.
PENNINGTON NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NC State first baseman Garrett Pennington was named the ACC Player of the Week after helping lead the Wolfpack to a 3-1 week and a series victory at No. 10 Virginia this past weekend. Pennington batted .647 with a team-high 11 hits, 11 runs scored, 10 RBI, three home runs and 22 total bases. The Lenexa, Kansas native recorded a multi-hit game in all four of the Pack's matchups this past week, highlighted by three straight three-hit performances in the series win over the Cavaliers. He joins corner infield partner Alec Makarewicz as the two Wolfpack players to earn ACC Player of the Week honors this season.
BESTING THE BEST
With a pair of victories at No. 10 Virginia over the weekend, NC State has now captured seven victories over top-10 opponents this season. Five of those seven victories have come on the road, highlighted by road series wins at No. 2 Clemson and No. 10 Virginia. The Wolfpack is 7-5 against top-10 opponents and holds a 10-7 record against ranked opponents. NC State looks to add to its tally with three games against No. 8 Wake Forest this weekend.
PACK ON NATIONAL TV
Seven NC State baseball games have been selected for national broadcasts. All seven of the Wolfpack's nationally televised contests will be on ACC Network. A full list of the Pack's games on national TV for the 2024 season is listed below. NC State is 5-0 in games broadcasted on ACC Network this season, highlighted by three walk-off victories against Duke, Notre Dame and North Carolina. NC State kept its unbeaten streak on the network alive behind Friday night's 7-5 win at Disharoon Park.
March 23 vs. Duke | ACCN (W, 9-8)
March 29 vs. Notre Dame | ACCN (W, 7-6)
April 13 at Clemson | ACCN (W, 4-0)
April 18 vs. North Carolina | ACCN (W, 9-8)
May 4 at Florida State | ACCN (Canceled)
May 10 at Virginia | ACCN (W, 7-5)
May 17 vs. Wake Forest | 7 p.m. | ACC Network
Friday's matchup will be televised on ACC Network. Thursday and Saturday's games will stream live on ACC Network Extra. A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for all three contests. All three games will also be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1 with Tony Haynes on the call.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. RHP David Falco Jr. (Wake Forest)
Friday – LHP Dominic Fritton (NCSU) vs. RHP Chase Burns (Wake Forest)
Saturday – TBA (NCSU) vs. LHP Josh Hartle (Wake Forest)
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST WAKE FOREST
NC State holds a 126-68 advantage in the series against Wake Forest. More notes from the series against the Demon Deacons are listed below:
• NC State looks to snap a five-game regular season losing streak to the Demon Deacons in Thursday night's series opener at The Doak. Wake Forest swept a rare Easter Sunday doubleheader this past season in Winston-Salem and won all three games in Raleigh in the Pack's final ACC series of the 2022 season.
• The Wolfpack's most recent win in the series came in its ACC Tournament opener in 2022. After dropping three straight games to close out the regular season, the Pack responded with an 11-8 victory in its first postseason matchup of the year. NC State slugged three homers and rallied from an early 4-0 deficit in the victory.
• NC State won two games out of three at Wake Forest from April 30 to May 2, 2021. The Pack and Demon Deacons split the first two games before NC State captured a series-clinching 15-8 victory at The Couch.
• The Wolfpack's most recent home series victory over Wake Forest came in a sweep, winning all three games at Doak Field from May 11-13, 2018.
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST
Wake Forest (36-16, 15-12 ACC) jumped back into the top 10 of D1Baseball's poll after completing a three-game sweep of then-No. 2 Clemson in Winston-Salem. Demon Deacon ace Chase Burns pitched a gem in the series opener, limiting the Tigers to just two hits and one runs with 16 strikeouts. Burns, the nation's leader with 156 strikeouts, earned his fifth ACC Pitcher of the Week award following the dominant performance. The Demon Deacons rank first in the ACC in walks drawn (336), HBPs (74), home runs (100), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.55) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.9). The Demon Deacons have won nine straight since a series loss at Notre Dame on April 28, opening the month of May with an 8-0 record. Offensively, five Wake Forest batters have reached double-digit tallies in home runs, highlighted by Nick Kurtz's 20 homers in just 46 games played.
TOUGH SLATE
NC State has exceled so far during its gauntlet of a finish to ACC play with all of its final five ACC series coming against top 15 teams in the D1Baseball Top 25 at the time of the games being played. The Wolfpack has secured at least a series split in five straight weekend series, highlighted by series victories over then-No. 2 Clemson, then-No. 11 North Carolina and then-No. 10 Virginia.
NC State's strength of schedule checks in at No. 6 nationally, according to warrennolan.com. The Pack's strength of schedule ranks second in the ACC and just one spot behind Wake Forest (No. 5). The Wolfpack also has nine wins over Quadrant I opponents. The Wolfpack is also a perfect 9-0 against Quadrant IV opponents.
STAYING ALIVE
Statistically, NC State's lineup is the toughest to strike out in the ACC, averaging a league low 6.38 strikeouts per game. The Wolfpack has only struck out 306 times in 48 games this season. NC State also has the lowest strikeout clip in ACC play, averaging just 7.31 strikeouts per game against league opponents.
"HE GETS ON BASE"
NC State has five players with reached-base streaks of 10 games of more -- Alec Makarewicz (15), Jacob Cozart (12), Eli Serrano III (11), Chase Nixon (11) and Brandon Butterworth (10). Makarewicz is also on a 15-game hitting streak, which is not only the longest active streak on the roster, but it's also the longest streak for a Pack9 player this entire season.
SENIOR DAY SENDOFF
NC State will honor nine players and two student managers for Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Doak Field at Dail Park. Student-athletes Carson Falsken, Noah Soles, Garrett Payne, Matt Willadsen, Garrett Pennington, P.J. Labriola, John Miralia, Hollis Fanning and Alec Makarewicz will be honored pregame. Student managers Tyler DeJong and Andrew Kissell will also be honored.
PENNINGTON NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NC State first baseman Garrett Pennington was named the ACC Player of the Week after helping lead the Wolfpack to a 3-1 week and a series victory at No. 10 Virginia this past weekend. Pennington batted .647 with a team-high 11 hits, 11 runs scored, 10 RBI, three home runs and 22 total bases. The Lenexa, Kansas native recorded a multi-hit game in all four of the Pack's matchups this past week, highlighted by three straight three-hit performances in the series win over the Cavaliers. He joins corner infield partner Alec Makarewicz as the two Wolfpack players to earn ACC Player of the Week honors this season.
BESTING THE BEST
With a pair of victories at No. 10 Virginia over the weekend, NC State has now captured seven victories over top-10 opponents this season. Five of those seven victories have come on the road, highlighted by road series wins at No. 2 Clemson and No. 10 Virginia. The Wolfpack is 7-5 against top-10 opponents and holds a 10-7 record against ranked opponents. NC State looks to add to its tally with three games against No. 8 Wake Forest this weekend.
PACK ON NATIONAL TV
Seven NC State baseball games have been selected for national broadcasts. All seven of the Wolfpack's nationally televised contests will be on ACC Network. A full list of the Pack's games on national TV for the 2024 season is listed below. NC State is 5-0 in games broadcasted on ACC Network this season, highlighted by three walk-off victories against Duke, Notre Dame and North Carolina. NC State kept its unbeaten streak on the network alive behind Friday night's 7-5 win at Disharoon Park.
March 23 vs. Duke | ACCN (W, 9-8)
March 29 vs. Notre Dame | ACCN (W, 7-6)
April 13 at Clemson | ACCN (W, 4-0)
April 18 vs. North Carolina | ACCN (W, 9-8)
May 4 at Florida State | ACCN (Canceled)
May 10 at Virginia | ACCN (W, 7-5)
May 17 vs. Wake Forest | 7 p.m. | ACC Network
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