No. 23 NC State Faces No. 10 Virginia in Final ACC Road Series of the Season

Friday, May 10

Charlottesville, Va.

7 p.m.

NC State

Virginia

Photo by: Mollie Mitchell

No. 23 NC State Faces No. 10 Virginia in Final ACC Road Series of the Season

5/9/2024 6:19:00 PM | Baseball

Watch Listen Live Stats NC State Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 23 NC State baseball team travels to Charlottesville, Virginia, for a ranked ACC series at No. 10 Virginia. This weekend's series against the Cavaliers will run Friday through Sunday with first pitch times set for 7 p.m., 4 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

Friday's series opener will be televised on ACC Network. Saturday and Sunday'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 Andrew Sanders on the call.

THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST VIRGINIA
NC State holds a 123-83-1 advantage in the series against Virginia. More notes from the series against the Cavaliers are listed below:

• NC State makes its first trip to Charlottesville in over four years for this weekend's series. The Wolfpack played its final series of the COVID-shortened 2020 season from March 6-8 at Virginia, dropping two games out of three at Disharoon Park.
• NC State went 1-2 against the Cavaliers in this past season's series at The Doak, dropping a one-run contest on Friday before securing a one-run victory on Sunday over the 14th-ranked Cavs. The Pack rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the ninth inning to win the final game of the series 5-4.
• The Pack's most recent series win over Virginia came from March 29-31, 2019, in Raleigh. NC State responded from a loss on Friday with back-to-back victories to secure the series win.
• The Wolfpack's most recent series win in Charlottesville came from April 1-3, 2016. The Pack and Cavaliers split the first two games of the series before NC State notched a 5-2 victory in the series finale.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA
Virginia (36-12, 14-10 ACC) has slugged its way to a No. 10 national ranking in the D1Baseball national poll. The Cavaliers rank first in the ACC in a plethora of offensive categories, including batting average (.342), doubles per game (2.50), on-base percentage (.433), runs scored (472), scoring (9.8) and slugging percentage (.577). UVA's pitching staff, however, ranks 13th in the league in WHIP, 11th in the league in walks allowed per nine innings and 11th in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Six Virginia batters have reached double digits in doubles. Nine UVA hitters (minimum 100 at-bats) hold a batting average over .300, highlighted by Bobby Whalen's .395 clip.

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 this week's D1Baseball Top 25. The Wolfpack has secured at least a series split in four straight weekend series, highlighted by series victories over then-No. 2 Clemson and then-No. 11 North Carolina. The Wolfpack completes its regular-season slate with series at No. 10 Virginia and at home against No. 12 Wake Forest.

NC State's strength of schedule checks in at No. 9 nationally, according to warrennolan.com. The Wolfpack also has seven wins over Quadrant I opponents. The Wolfpack is also a perfect 9-0 against Quadrant IV opponents.

"HE GETS ON BASE"
NC State has seven players with reached-base streaks of seven games of more, highlighted by two players with reached-base streaks in the double digits – Alec Makarewicz (12) and Luke Nixon (11). Makarewicz is also on a 12-game hitting streak, which is tied with Garrett Pennington for the longest streak by a Pack9 player this season.

LOOKING TO LEAD OFF
NC State has had five different players man the leadoff spot in head coach Elliott Avent's lineup this season (Noah Soles, Josh Hogue, Brandon Butterworth, Luke Nixon and Eli Serrano III). Serrano III took over the leadoff spot in the series opener against No. 11 UNC and has held that spot since then. The Pack is 7-4 during that stretch and has averaged 7.64 runs scored per game and has batted .304 as a team. Both of those marks eclipse full-season averages of 7.5 runs scored per game and a .284 team batting average. Six Wolfpack hitters have also sported an on-base percentage over .400 during the 11-game stretch, including Serrano III's .418 clip.

NINE FOR NINE
Jacob Cozart has been white hot since the Wolfpack's series-opening victory over North Carolina on April 18, crushing nine homers over a nine-game stretch that ended on Friday at No. 7 Florida State. Cozart's solo shot knotted Friday's game at 1-1 before the Wolfpack completed an 8-7 comeback victory for its fifth win over a top-10 opponent this season.

CAREER YEAR FOR NO. 99
Alec Makarewicz has had a career year in his final collegiate season, leading NC State with a .364 batting average, 68 hits, 18 homers, 62 RBI, a .749 slugging percentage and 140 total bases. Makarewicz, the nation's active leader with 248 career games played, has already smashed a single-season career high with 18 homers, seven more than his previous career-high of 11. He has also already set single-season career bests with 140 total bases, 18 doubles and 62 RBI. The switch-hitting third baseman has homered from both sides of the plate twice this season and leads the Wolfpack with two grand slams. Makarewicz ranks first on the roster with 22 multi-hit games and 16 multi-RBI games. Makarewicz is tied for sixth in the ACC with 18 home runs and ranks tied for third in the league with 62 RBI.

BESTING THE BEST
With Friday night's win at No. 7 Florida State, NC State has now captured five victories over top-10 opponents this season. Three of those five victories have come on the road, highlighted by a road series win at No. 2 Clemson in early April. The Wolfpack is 5-4 against top-10 opponents and holds an 8-6 record against ranked opponents. NC State looks to add to its tally with three games at No. 10 Virginia this weekend.