Friday, March 28
Durham, NC
8 p.m.
NC State
at
Duke
Wolfpack and Blue Devils Meet in Durham This Weekend
3/27/2025 10:57:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, NC – NC State baseball (17-8, 4-2 ACC) will make the short trip to Durham, N.C., this weekend when it meets with Tobacco Road rival Duke (17-9, 5-4 ACC) for a three-game series at Jack Coombs Field.
The series will kick off on Friday, March 28th, at 8 p.m. on ACC Network as one of three nationally televised games for the Wolfpack this season. Games two and three will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. There will be a radio broadcast on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network App for all three games.
When the series concludes on Sunday, the two programs will have met 300 times in series history. The Wolfpack enters the weekend with a 166-130-1 advantage over Duke. The Blue Devils enter the matchup winning the past two meetings, including a victory over NC State in last year's ACC tournament.
NC State last traveled to Jack Coombs Field for a series and took two out of three from the Blue Devils in 2022. Over the last 10 meetings, NC State is 5-5; the largest margin of victory for NC State came in 2005 when the Wolfpack won 22-0. The series dates back to the Wolfpack's inaugural year as a baseball program in 1940.
The Wolfpack will look to end a two-game losing streak after falling in the midweek to USC Upstate 15-5 and Pitt before that.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS:
Friday: LHP Dominic Fritton (NCSU) vs. LHP Owen Proksch (DUKE)
Saturday: RHP Heath Andrews (NCSU) vs. LHP Andrew Healy (DUKE)
Sunday: LHP Ryan Marohn (NCSU) vs. TBA (DUKE)
Fritton is coming off his fourth consecutive win. Against Pitt, Fritton went a career-high 7.1 innings and struck out 13. It marked the fourth straight game where Fritton has gone at least six innings while giving up two runs or less — a feat he didn't achieve once last season.
When Fritton and Heath Andrews got the starting nod, the Wolfpack is hard to beat. NC State is 10-2 in games they start. Fritton is third in the ACC in ERA (1.50), leading the conference in Innings pitched. NC State is one of two teams with multiple pitchers in the top 10 in batters stuck out in the ACC.
Last season, Jacob Cozart drew 52 walks in 61 games to finish second in program history for most walks in a season. Through 25 games this season, freshman Ty Head has drawn 30 walks and is fifth in the nation and second in the ACC for base on balls.
Head is one of three Wolfpack players to appear in all 25 games played this season, joining Luke Nixon and Chris McHugh. All three lead the Wolfpack in one offensive Category or another. McHugh leads NC State in batting average (.360), SLG (.584), hits (32), home runs (5), and RBIs (32).
Nixon leads NC State in doubles (10), triples (2) and runs scored (27). Nixon has 10 stolen bases this season, making him the only Wolfpack player with double-digit steals and steal attempts.
Matt Heavner has three home runs this season, matching his total over his first two seasons with the Wolfpack. His third home run of the season was a grand slam in the Wolfpack's last outing against USC Upstate. Heavner has only batted in the eighth or ninth spot in the order all season, leading the country in sacrifice bunts with nine. In his last 12 games, he has a .379/.539/.690 slash line with two HRs, 17 RBI with 10 BB/4 K.
The series will kick off on Friday, March 28th, at 8 p.m. on ACC Network as one of three nationally televised games for the Wolfpack this season. Games two and three will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. There will be a radio broadcast on WKNC 88.1 and the Varsity Network App for all three games.
When the series concludes on Sunday, the two programs will have met 300 times in series history. The Wolfpack enters the weekend with a 166-130-1 advantage over Duke. The Blue Devils enter the matchup winning the past two meetings, including a victory over NC State in last year's ACC tournament.
NC State last traveled to Jack Coombs Field for a series and took two out of three from the Blue Devils in 2022. Over the last 10 meetings, NC State is 5-5; the largest margin of victory for NC State came in 2005 when the Wolfpack won 22-0. The series dates back to the Wolfpack's inaugural year as a baseball program in 1940.
The Wolfpack will look to end a two-game losing streak after falling in the midweek to USC Upstate 15-5 and Pitt before that.
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS:
Friday: LHP Dominic Fritton (NCSU) vs. LHP Owen Proksch (DUKE)
Saturday: RHP Heath Andrews (NCSU) vs. LHP Andrew Healy (DUKE)
Sunday: LHP Ryan Marohn (NCSU) vs. TBA (DUKE)
Fritton is coming off his fourth consecutive win. Against Pitt, Fritton went a career-high 7.1 innings and struck out 13. It marked the fourth straight game where Fritton has gone at least six innings while giving up two runs or less — a feat he didn't achieve once last season.
When Fritton and Heath Andrews got the starting nod, the Wolfpack is hard to beat. NC State is 10-2 in games they start. Fritton is third in the ACC in ERA (1.50), leading the conference in Innings pitched. NC State is one of two teams with multiple pitchers in the top 10 in batters stuck out in the ACC.
Last season, Jacob Cozart drew 52 walks in 61 games to finish second in program history for most walks in a season. Through 25 games this season, freshman Ty Head has drawn 30 walks and is fifth in the nation and second in the ACC for base on balls.
Head is one of three Wolfpack players to appear in all 25 games played this season, joining Luke Nixon and Chris McHugh. All three lead the Wolfpack in one offensive Category or another. McHugh leads NC State in batting average (.360), SLG (.584), hits (32), home runs (5), and RBIs (32).
Nixon leads NC State in doubles (10), triples (2) and runs scored (27). Nixon has 10 stolen bases this season, making him the only Wolfpack player with double-digit steals and steal attempts.
Matt Heavner has three home runs this season, matching his total over his first two seasons with the Wolfpack. His third home run of the season was a grand slam in the Wolfpack's last outing against USC Upstate. Heavner has only batted in the eighth or ninth spot in the order all season, leading the country in sacrifice bunts with nine. In his last 12 games, he has a .379/.539/.690 slash line with two HRs, 17 RBI with 10 BB/4 K.
Players Mentioned
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