NC State continues to climb in national polls after knocking off Virginia
After yet another top-12 ACC series win, NC State baseball is surging through the national rankings ahead of the final regular season series of the year.
The Wolfpack took two of three at then-No. 10 Virginia over the weekend, recording its ninth and 10th ranked wins of the year. The series victory marked the fourth ranked league weekend the Pack has won this season (it split at No. 7 Florida State as well).
NC State was led by graduate first baseman Garrett Pennington’s red-hot weekend at the plate with a 9-for-13 series that included three homers and nine runs scored at Virginia. While the former Wichita State transfer swung the bat well, the Pack received stellar relief from freshman lefty Cooper Consiglio to clinch the series with 4.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Now, the Pack is inside the top 20 in both Baseball America and D1Baseball’s weekly rankings. NC State checked in at No. 9 in Baseball America’s top 25, while the red and white moved up six spots to No. 17 in D1Baseball’s poll. The Wolfpack also moved up four spots in the NCAA’s RPI rankings to No. 20.
NC State’s jump up six spots in D1Baseball’s rankings tied the best move of the week — No. 9 Georgia and No. 12 Oklahoma did the same.
The Wolfpack will host No. 8 Wake Forest to close the regular season, beginning Thursday night at Doak Field, with a chance to play its way into hosting an NCAA Tournament regional. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Full D1Baseball rankings:
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
| 1 | Tennessee | 42-10 | 1 |
| 2 | Kentucky | 37-11 | 4 |
| 3 | Arkansas | 42-10 | 5 |
| 4 | Clemson | 37-13 | 2 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 42-10 | 3 |
| 6 | Oregon State | 39-12 | 7 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 39-11 | 11 |
| 8 | Wake Forest | 36-16 | 12 |
| 9 | Georgia | 38-12 | 15 |
| 10 | Florida State | 37-12 | 8 |
| 11 | Duke | 34-16 | 9 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 32-17 | 18 |
| 13 | East Carolina | 37-13 | 6 |
| 14 | Arizona | 32-18 | 17 |
| 15 | UC Irvine | 38-10 | 16 |
| 16 | Mississippi State | 33-18 | 14 |
| 17 | NC State | 29-19 | 23 |
| 18 | Virginia | 37-14 | 10 |
| 19 | Oklahoma State | 34-16 | 19 |
| 20 | Indiana State | 36-11 | 20 |
| 21 | Louisana | 38-15 | 22 |
| 22 | UC Santa Barbara | 35-12 | 25 |
| 23 | Oregon | 34-16 | 24 |
| 24 | South Carolina | 33-18 | 13 |
| 25 | Texas | 32-20 | NR |
