NC State baseball weekend preview: Wagner opens season
The last time that NC State baseball fans saw the #Pack9 on the field was the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte against North Carolina. The Wolfpack fell that afternoon to the Tar Heels. Little did anyone know was that 24 hours later on Memorial Day, NC State would be stunningly left out of the NCAA Tournament field in a much talked-about snub in the college baseball community.
The sting of that decision has faded over time and becomes an even more distant memory when NC State takes the field 3 p.m. Friday for the start of a 3-game season-opening series against Wagner. The Wolfpack has won six consecutive season openers under legendary NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent.
NC State was picked in the preseason ACC poll to finish third in the loaded Atlantic Division, receiving one vote to win the conference.
Related link: The Wolfpacker Podcast previews NC State baseball
Here is a preview of this weekend’s action against Wagner.
NC State Baseball In The Polls
D1Baseball.com: 21st
Perfect Game: 21st
USA Today Sports baseball coaches: 22nd
NCBWA: 24th
Baseball America: 25th
Collegiate Baseball: 30th
Weekend Rotation
One of the great success stories from the 2022 season will throw the first pitch for NC State baseball.
Right handed redshirt junior Logan Whitaker had multiple major arm surgeries that forced him to miss three years after arriving at NC State in the fall of 2018. Finally healthy, Whitaker ended up being a surprising weekend starter and for most of the season a reliable one.
He was hit hard in his last two starts for NC State, both in the ACC Tournament. That inflated his ERA that was 3.57 going into the event to 4.72 at season’s end. Whitaker finished the year allowing 62 hits and 32 walks over 66.2 innings and striking out 62 batters.
Going Saturday will be junior righthander Matt Willadsen. He closed the season strong to finish with a 5-4 record in 16 appearances, including 14 starts. He allowed 81 hits and a 4.19 earned run average (ERA) over 88.0 innings and struck out 95 batters while walking 45.
Williadsen battled command issues at times. His walks increased from 29 the year before in 83.2 innings. After throwing collectively two wild pitches and hitting six betters over 91.1 career innings before last year, Willadsen had 12 wild pitches and nine hit batters in 2022.
Top 10
- 1Hot
Strength of Schedule
CFP Top 25 SOS ranking
- 2
Alabama needs a prayer
Tide can make the CFP but needs help
- 3
3 ACC teams in CFP?
Path for ACC outlined
- 4
Taco Bell offers Oklahoma
Brent Venables story pays dividends
- 5
New CFP Top 25
College Football Playoff rankings revealed
Nevertheless, in his last five extended outings for NC State, Willadsen threw 36.0 innings during which he had a 2.00 ERA and allowed 21 hits and 12 walks while striking out 43.
Capping the rotation will be a newcomer, freshman lefty Dominic Fritton, a native of nearby Fuquay-Varina.
Scouting Wagner
Wagner is coming off a 17-34 overall record, including a 12-15 mark in the Northeast Conference. The Seahawks went 0-7 against teams from the Power Five conference.
In the preseason NEC poll, Wagner was picked to finish fifth in the conference and received a first place vote. The Seahawks return two primary weekend starters in righties sophomores Daniel Merkel and Frankie Wright. Merkel will throw Friday while Wright goes Sunday.
Junior college import Julian Chabot will throw Saturday.
Also returning is the top four batting averages from the Wagner lineup, including senior outfielder Dante Faicchio, who was third in the NEC in homers (12) and second in runs batted in (52).
