NC State baseball weekend preview: Regular season finale

The final weekend of the regular season for NC State baseball has arrived. For the third straight ACC series, the Wolfpack will play a three-game set against an in-state rival. This time it is Wake Forest, who arrive Thursday in Raleigh.

First pitch Thursday and Friday are scheduled to be at 6:30 p.m., while Saturday has a 1 p.m. start. All games can be seen online on ACC Network Extra.

NC State baseball enters the series with a 33-17 overall record, including an 14-12 mark in the ACC. Here is a look at Wake Forest.

Looking At NC State Baseball Opponent: Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons have a lot on the line this weekend. Wake Forest has not won a series in its last four ACC showdowns, although it did split with Louisville, each team winning once and the finale ending with a tie forced by a travel curfew.

Whereas NC State baseball has already clinched a spot into the ACC Tournament, Wake still has work to do. The Deacons also need wins to improve its chances for making the NCAA Tournament. D1Baseball.com has WFU as the first team left out of the field in the site’s updated mock bracket. The Deacons endured a similar fate in Baseball America’s latest projected field.

Wake Forest, who plays home games in a hitter-friendly ballpark, leads the ACC in batting average (.321), on-base percentage (.432), runs scored (496), hits (612), homers (101) and walks drawn (334). The Deacs have the conference’s third-best slugging percentage (.544).

Freshman rightfielder Tommy Hawke has been a big boost to the offense, leading the ACC with a .510 on-base percentage while batting leadoff. Versatile redshirt sophomore Pierce Bennett backs up Hawke with his .383 batting average, third highest in the conference.

The primary power source is redshirt junior catcher Brandon Tinsman, who has 20 home runs on the year, one of just four players in the conference to have at least 20.

Wake Forest though has markedly different records home and away. In Winston-Salem, the Deacons are 26-7-1. Away from there, WFU is 10-9, including 5-7 in the ACC.

NC State is 22-7 in home games this spring.

Weekend Pitching

Odds are NC State baseball is going with the same trio it used to start the last six series, although Saturday currently is labeled as “TBA.”

NC State redshirt sophomore Logan Whitaker, a righty, will go Thursday. In 55.2 innings, Whitaker has allowed 49 hits and a .231 batting average while sporting a 3.56 ERA. Whitaker has struck out 53 while allowing 24 walks.

Red-hot sophomore right hander Matt Willadsen will go Friday. He is 4-3 in 13 starts with a 4.17 ERA while allowing 70 hits in a team-high 73.1 innings. He has surrendered 36 walks while fanning a staff-best 77. In Willadsen’s last three starts, he has thrown 23.0 innings while allowing just three earned runs. He has given up just 13 hits and three walks while striking out 26.

Super senior lefty Canaan Silver is 6-0 with a 3.22 ERA in 58.2 innings and started the last six weekends. He has allowed 55 hits while displaying impressive command, walking only 11 and fanning 56. However, Silver is coming off his shortest start, failing to get past the fifth inning for the first time when relieved after three frames at Duke last Sunday.

Wake Forest is countering Thursday with one of the most effective starters in the conference — sophomore righty Rhett Lowder. He has a 9-3 record with a 2.51 ERA in 13 starts, allowing 72 hits and 19 walks in 79.0 innings while striking out 88. Lowder has given up just four homers.

Highly touted freshman lefty Josh Hartle, who would have been a high draft pick had he not chosen to throw in college, starts Friday. Hartle has gone through growing pains. He is 5-6 with a 6.09 ERA in 12 starts, surrendering 74 hits over 57.2 innings and allowing opponents to hit .297.

Sophomore righty Teddy McGraw will throw Saturday. He is 4-2 with a 5.04 ERA in 12 games, including 10 starts. McGraw has struck out 50 and allowed just 46 hits in 55.1 innings, but he has battled control issues with 32 walks and hit 12 batters.

ACC Standings and Weekend Schedule

Atlantic Division

Team	ACC W-L-T	Pct.	Overall W-L-T	Pct.
Notre Dame	15-9	.625	32-11	.744
Louisville	16-10-1	.611	36-15-1	.702
Florida State	15-12	.556	32-19	.627
NC State	14-12	.538	33-17	.660
Wake Forest	12-14-1	.463	36-16-1	.689
Clemson	10-16	.385	32-21	.604
Boston College	5-22	.185	19-31	.380

Coastal Division

Team	ACC W-L	Pct.	Overall W-L	Pct.
Miami	18-9	.667	37-15	.712
Virginia Tech	16-9	.640	37-11	.771
Virginia	16-11	.593	37-13	.740
Pittsburgh	13-13	.500	27-23	.540
Georgia Tech	12-15	.444	30-21	.588
North Carolina	12-15	.444	31-19	.620
Duke	10-17	.370	22-29	.431

Weekend series schedule:

Wake Forest at NC State

Duke at Virginia Tech

Florida State at North Carolina

Virginia at Louisville

Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh

Boston College at Clemson

Notre Dame at Miami

Midweek Action For NC State Baseball

The bats broke out early and often in a shortened, seven-inning win over UNC Greensboro. The Pack rolled to a 20-2 win in its final midweek game of the season. Freshman designated hitter Tommy White belted his 22nd homer of the season, tying a conference record for most by a frosh in league history.

White had one of four homers in the win for NC State.

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