NC State baseball weekend preview: Hitting the road at No. 8 Florida State

For the first time this season, NC State baseball is hitting the road for a three-game series. The Pack (10-6 overall and 0-2 in ACC) will be at Florida State (11-5, 2-1).

Game one is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Game two Saturday is 2 p.m. and the conclusion Sunday at 1 p.m.

All games can be seen online on ACC Network Extra.

Here’s a look at the weekend ahead for NC State baseball.

NC State Baseball Midweek Review

The Wolfpack rode one of its best team pitching performances thus far this season to a 2-1 win at Elon.

Redshirt sophomore Logan Whitaker started and threw 4.2 hitless innings with a pair of walks and five strikeouts before being relieved by junior Baker Nelson. Nelson, super senior Canaan Silver and sophomore Garrett Payne combined to throw 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out six.

Sophomore Chris Villaman had to work around a walk, an error and two wild pitches that allowed an unearned run to score. With runners on the corners Villaman was able to get a strikeout and double-play groundout to end the game and register the save.

Looking At Florida State

Florida State was the heavy preseason favorite to win the ACC, garnering eight of the league’s 14 coaches’ votes to win both the Atlantic Division and the conference.

The Noles boast overpowering pitching to square off against the NC State lineup. Florida State leads the country in strikeouts per nine innings (13.3). The Seminoles are also 12th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (6.38). In six of its 11 wins, the FSU staff has held the opposing team to two runs or fewer. Collectively, they have a 3.34 earned run average.

Opponents are batting below the Mendoza Line at .196 against Seminoles pitching.

Florida State started conference play last weekend at Wake Forest, dropping game one 9-3 before sweeping a double header on Sunday to take the series. A high-profile televised midweek showdown at No. 9 Florida was postponed due to weather.

Surprisingly, one area where Florida State has struggled is in midweek games. It lost 3-2 at Jacksonville on Feb. 22 and a week later 6-5 in extra innings at Mercer. Florida State has yet to lose a three-game series this year, including sweeping James Madison to start the season.

Weekend Pitching

NC State baseball has made a change in its weekend rotation, flipping its Friday and Sunday starters.

Friday will be super senior lefty David Harrison. He is 2-1 through four games, including three stats, with a 4.41 ERA while allowing 17 hits in 16.1 innings. He has struck out 14 while walking five. His numbers were inflated when he was hit hard last Sunday against Notre Dame in his one appearance out of the bullpen, allowing three hits and three earned runs while walking a batter and recording just one out.

Harrison has a challenging pitcher to duel. Florida State redshirt sophomore Parker Messick was the ACC Pitcher of the Year a season ago. His 44 strikeouts thus far this year are second most in the country. In four starts, the All-American candidate has a 2.52 ERA while giving up just 13 hits and six walks in 25.0 innings.

NC State will continue with sophomore Matt Willadsen on Saturday. Willadsen is 0-1 in four starts but has a 3.80 ERA while opponents are only hitting .235 off him. He leads NC State with 24 strikeouts in 21.1 innings, but also has a staff-high 11 walks and 19 hits allowed.

FSU’s Bryce Hubbart is the first FSU pitcher in four years to start a season by winning all of his first four starts, and he has an impressive 1.11 ERA. Hubbart has allowed just 12 hits and seven walks while fanning 43 in 24.1 innings.

NC State sophomore Sam Highfill will start Sunday. Highfill’s peripherals of surrendering 17 hits and six walks while allowing a .224 batting average against in 20.2 innings are better than his 4.79 ERA in four starts.

FSU will counter with Ross Dunn, who is 1-0 in four starts while throwing 19.1 innings. He has allowed just nine hits but has also walked 12 while striking out 36, and his ERA checks in a 1.86.

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