NC State and Wake Forest Clash in ACC Showdown

Friday, April 17

Winston-Salem, NC

8 p.m.

NC State

Wake Forest

4/16/2026 6:37:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State will travel to Winston-Salem for the first time since 2023 as the Wolfpack are set to play a three-game series with Wake Forest, beginning Friday, April 17^th, at 8 p.m. Friday's matchup will be nationally televised on ACC Network, with the rest of the series on ACCNX.

The Wolfpack (25-12, 8-7) enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak against the Demon Deacons, having swept Wake Forest in 2024 in Raleigh. Over the last 10 matchups, NC State is 5-5 and has had success on the road at the Couch, with a 21-21 record since 1990.

NC State leads the all-time series 129-68. These two programs first met in the Wolfpack's inaugural baseball season in 1940, playing twice, with Wake Forest winning the first meeting and the Pack winning the second.

Friday's game will mark the third nationally televised game the Pack has played. They are 0-2 after losing twice at Georgia Tech. NC State will play in a total of four nationally televised games (as of publication). Last season, NC State went 2-2 in games on the national stage, highlighted by a walk-off victory over Virginia and a run-rule victory over Clemson.

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday: RHP Heath Andrews (3-1, 4.25 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Levonas (7-2, 2.22 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Cooper Consiglio (2-2, 2.75 ERA) vs. RHP Troy Dressler (5-1, 4.08 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Cameron Bagwell (2-1, 3.67 ERA)

The Pack is coming off a midweek victory over another in-state opponent, having beaten East Carolina on Tuesday, 10-3. Wake Forest will be the seventh North Carolina opponent the Pack faces this season. They are 6-3 after beating Queens, beating UNCW twice, taking a series from Duke, and winning the first of two games against ECU. The Pack has fallen to Elon, Campbell, and Duke.

In the midweek victory over the Pirates, five freshmen: Luke Hemric, Mikey Ragusa, Sam Harris, Aiden Kitchings, and Truitt Manuel combined to pitch nine innings, holding ECU to just three runs on five hits, with three walks and 10 strikeouts.

Ragusa made his collegiate debut and struck out the first batter he faced.

Head Coach Elliott Avent became the third active head coach to reach 1,300 career wins after the Wolfpack's 16-1 victory over Princeton. Avent is the 24th D1 baseball head coach to reach at least 1,300 career wins.

The next milestone he has his sights on is 1,100 wins at NC State. With 1,096, he is four wins away from reaching that mark.

Avent would become the only active head coach to achieve that at a single school and the 12th Division I coach to do so.

The Wolfpack offense has outscored its opponents 311 to 163 this season. Not only is the offense producing, but the Wolfpack's pitching staff has also performed well, ranking first in the ACC and fourth in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (6.95).

Averaging 11.1 strikeouts per game, the Pack pitching staff ranks third in the ACC and 13^th in the nation. Ryan Marohn is averaging 12.3, which is 5^th in the ACC. Marohn is one strikeout away from 200 in his Wolfpack career.

Not only do the Wolfpack strike out a lot of batters, but Rett Johnson and Ty Head are also among the toughest to strike out in the ACC. Johnson is second, averaging 11.8 at-bats between strikeouts, and Head is fourth in the conference.

Johnson has been one of the best freshmen in the country this season. He has the fifth-highest batting average among freshmen and ranks 14^th overall. He leads the Pack in average and OBP, with 27 walks and just 10 strikeouts. He is currently on a team-best 11-game hitting streak.

Head has 22 stolen bases this season, moving him past Marc Maynor and Sonny Santoli for ninth all-time. Trea Turner holds the record with 57 in the 2012 season, but Head is only eight stolen bases away from matching Turner and tying for second all-time, which Turner accomplished with 30 in 2013.

Head also leads the Wolfpack with 11 home runs this season and 35 walks, a year after recording 48 walks, which is sixth most in program history.

It is the first time since 2021 that the Pack has had a player with both double-digit home runs and stolen bases. That season, three Pack players—Jonny Butler, Tyler McDonough, and Terrell Tatum—achieved the feat.

Another hot hitter for the Pack is shortstop Mikey Ryan, who was named to the Baseball America Week Nine National Team of the Week. Ryan went 8-for-16 with two home runs, two doubles, six RBIs, and a stolen base, helping the Wolfpack go 3-1 on the week.

With 77 stolen bases, the Wolfpack has surpassed last season's total and has done so in the first 13 games of 2026. The most stolen bases by a Pack team came in 2013, when the Wolfpack swiped 110 bases. The Wolfpack had not stolen more than 70 bases in a season since 2014.

Chris McHugh, in 142 at-bats, leads the Pack with 51 hits and 39 runs batted in. McHugh has reached base safely in 19 straight games, which is a team best this season. He has 17 multi-hit games and 12 games recording multiple RBIs, both of which lead the Wolfpack as well.