Brayden Fraasman's hitting explosion paces No. 25 NC State past No. 2 Clemson in series opener

After suffering multiple injuries growing up playing baseball, Brayden Fraasman didn’t enjoy the sport in high school. Instead, he opted to play football and thought that would be his sport moving forward. 

While he suited up for Hamilton (Ohio) Ross High, Fraasman was a dynamic player on the gridiron. He was 14-of-26 passing for 250 yards with three touchdowns and an interception with 156 carries for 1,075 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior. 

Fraasman’s standout campaign led him to signing to play Division II football after his parents “convinced” him to go to college. But just a couple weeks before he was set to move into his dorm to begin his freshman year, Fraasman suddenly didn’t want to be a football player anymore. He decommitted and ended his collegiate football career before it even began.

But since he was ready to continue his education, Fraasman enrolled at Lincoln Trail College, an Illinois-based junior college. And it was there where he picked up baseball again. Fraasman went from falling out of love with America’s Pastime to quickly becoming a Division I prospect on the diamond. 

The Okeana, Ohio, native hit .353 with 16 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs and 57 RBI as a freshman. From then on, baseball was going to be what Fraasman focused on. 

“I had a really good year and I started to love the game a little bit more,” said Fraasman, who hit .348 with 54 extra-base hits and 105 RBI in his two junior college seasons. “They were like you have a better shot at doing what you love, so I chose that.”

Fraasman’s rediscovery of the sport he grew up playing not only seemed to bring joy to his face, but it has become a key part of NC State’s surge through the ACC standings. And his career-best showing (at any level) helped propel the 25th-ranked Wolfpack past No. 2 Clemson 14-4 in eight innings via the run rule to open a three-game series with the Tigers on Thursday night at Doak Field.

The 6-foot, 189-pound outfielder, who joined the program this season, went 5-for-5 with a double, two home runs and seven RBI to pace the Pack to its first top-five win in just over a calendar year (at then-No. 2 Clemson on April 13, 2024). His night at the plate was NC State’s most-prolific of the year as he posted the first five-hit effort since Tommy White did so against Evansville in 2022, while his seven RBI were the most since Cannon Peebles had 10 against NJIT during the 2023 campaign. 

Thinking about what he just did in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,048 faithful on national television in Raleigh brought a large grin to Fraasman’s face, still featuring remnants of his eye black on his cheeks, afterwards.

“That was awesome,” Fraasman said. “The experience of being here and playing Clemson was amazing.”

Fraasman didn’t just impress in front of the more than two dozen MLB scouts, but he did so against the elite arm of Aidan Knaak, who the evaluators were behind home plate to see. The junior college product wasn’t afraid of one of the top pitchers in the ACC, rather he attacked early and often. 

It was what he told himself since the Wolfpack returned from its road trip to California last weekend. Fraasman had a different focus about his preparation to face the electric right-hander’s five-pitch arsenal. It showed. 

Fraasman worked a quality at-bat in the first inning, roping a hard hit two-RBI single up the middle on a 2-2 count to give NC State the lead in the early going. He singled in the third on a 1-1 count, another RBI, while he roped a two-out RBI double in the fifth on the same count.

Then came the uber aggressive approach that paid off, even though the Wolfpack knocked Knaak out of the game after four innings. 

Fraasman, who faced Nathan Dvorsky in the sixth, clubbed a solo homer on the first pitch he saw with a 107 mph exit velocity. He wasn’t done in the eighth, either, smashing a moonshot down the left field line to add two more runs to NC State’s total on a ball that traveled 367 feet at 102 mph. 

Not a bad final two plate appearances in a game where he would have taken the first three at-bats. 

While Fraasman noted he’s always been an aggressive hitter that doesn’t want to waste a trip to the batter’s box, what he did against Clemson was mind-boggling. So much so that Elliott Avent, NC State’s 29th-year skipper, seemed astonished from what he watched. 

“You can play this game forever and not have a game like that,” Avent said afterwards. “[It was] just a lot of good things from him.”

Although Fraasman hasn’t had a flashy game like he did against the Tigers, he’s been a consistent presence in the middle of NC State’s batting order. He’s hitting .365 with 10 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs and 50 RBI through the Pack’s first 40 games. 

For a player that wasn’t sure baseball was for him, Fraasman has made immense strides over the last three years. It seems like his last-minute audible from football has been beneficial. He might have not enjoyed the sport in the latter stages of his high school career, but his beaming grin tells a different story now. 

“I like it a lot,” Fraasman said with a laugh.

It seems so. And that’s a good thing for NC State as the Wolfpack surges through the league with his ever-evolving presence at the plate.