NC State baseball ready to attack spring with new-look lineup

You could excuse long-time NC State baseball head coach Elliott Avent if he asked players to wear name tags for the first week or so of fall practices.

In his many years as a head coach, dating back to 1989 at New Mexico State before he took over the Wolfpack program in 1997, Avent cannot recall having to field so many newcomers.

“This is probably the most roster turnover I’ve had,” he confirmed. “You don’t lose the whole team very often, but this is one of those times.”

During last year’s memorable 56-game season that included the program’s third-ever trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., Avent had nine regulars start 50 games or more in the lineup. Seven are gone.

In addition, he used five pitchers for 59.2 innings or more compared to just 17.1 innings for the next most frequently called upon hurler, and two of those five left.

Yet, Avent left the fall, which ended with NC State crushing Duke 14-5 in an exhibition rematch of last spring’s ACC Championship Game, feeling optimistic about his team.

“We have a good group of guys,” Avent said. “Our job is to get them committed to excellence and committed to doing the things every day in a sport that has so many ups and downs.”

One of the hallmarks of Avent’s program that is difficult to appreciate, unless you are a coach like Avent, has been a string of strong dugout leaders.

“I think the leadership that gets handed down from every year by our players continues to grow and blossom,” Avent added.

He may only return two regulars from the lineup, but senior rightfielder Devonte Brown and senior second baseman J.T. Jarrett have provided invaluable leadership, according to Avent.

Brown missed part of the fall after having hand surgery, but he is a powerful bat returning. He hit 13 homers last season, third most on the team, while being one of just three players to start every game. He also added 11 doubles and finished with an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentages) of .863.

Anything between .833 and .899 is considered “very good.”

Avent believes that Jarrett, who hit .251 at the plate with a homer, 11 doubles and a triple, will prove to be one of the best defensive second basemen in school history. Jarrett had a .991 fielding percentage a year ago with just two errors.

Jarrett played outfield against Duke because Avent wanted to get a look at a group of high-upside newcomers. Two are transfers: redshirt junior Josh Hood from Penn and sophomore LuJames Groover III from Charlotte.

Hood was drafted in the 20th round by the Boston Red Sox but turned it down to play for NC State baseball instead. Hood was the unanimous selection for Ivy League Rookie of the Year and was first-team all-conference in 2019 when he batted .331 with a team-best eight homers for Penn.

The Ivy cancelled baseball the past two seasons.

Groover led Charlotte with a .351 batting average in 54 games in 2021, including four homers, and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team.

Two freshmen that joined the team to fanfare are Payton Green from Cary, N.C., and Tommy White from St. Pete Beach, Fla. Green was chosen in the 15th round by the Red Sox but elected not to sign. Perfect Game USA rated White the No. 18 prospect in the country in the 2021 class and top third baseman nationally.

Freshman catcher Jacob Cozart from High Point, N.C., was regarded at No. 133 nationally in the class by Perfect Game, but like White went undrafted due to a strong commitment to NC State baseball. He and transfers Jacob Godman from College of Southern Nevada and Matt Oldham from Elon will try to replace Luca Tresh, who caught all 56 games a year ago.

In the outfield, sophomore Dominic Pilolli transferred in from Charlotte where he was hitting .274 with four homers, two triples and five doubles and stole nine bases through 29 games before his season was cut short by an injury.

Sophomores Noah Soles and Trey Truitt, junior college transfer addition Brady Lavoie and freshmen Chase Nixon and Carter Lindsey are other options.

Nixon, who homered in the Duke scrimmage, is the son of former long-time MLB outfielder Trot Nixon, a former two-sport start in high school who enrolled at NC State to be a quarterback and baseball player but then signed with the Red Sox, who had taken him in the first round in 1993.

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