NC State baseball weekend preview: Back on road

NC State baseball needs to finish strong to get on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble and qualify for the ACC Tournament. The first of three more series left in the regular season is at Notre Dame.

First pitch Thursday is 7 p.m. on ACC Network. Game 2 on Friday is at 5 p.m., and Saturday’s finale is at 2 p.m. Both of those games can be seen online via ACC Network Extra.

Here is a preview of the NC State baseball series vs. Notre Dame.

NC State Baseball Weekend Rotation

Redshirt junior righty Logan Whitaker remains in his normal game one role. Whitaker has thrown 58.2 innings in 11 starts, surrendering 57 hits and 30 earned runs with just 9 walks and fanning 56. He has a 4.60 earned run average (ERA).

Going in game 2 will be junior righthander Matt Willadsen. He has also had 11 starts, typically on game twos. Willadsen has given up 52 hits and 19 walks over a team-high 59.0 innings while allowing 19 earned runs (2.90 ERA) and striking out 58.

No announcement has been made for game 3 yet.

Freshman lefty Dominic Fritton had started every series thus far this season that went three games, but he has scheduled to be replaced last Sunday against The Citadel by redshirt junior righty Sam Highfill. Highfill had started the midweek win over ECU in April, going 4.0 shutout innings and allowing 3 hits and 2 walks while fanning three. That was the first start this year of the former ace of the College World Series team of 2021.

Overall, Highfill has a 3.89 ERA in 17 appearances, giving up 32 hits in 34.2 innings with 12 walks and 34 strikeouts. Highfill ended up throwing in extended relief last Saturday, perhaps out of anticipation Sunday’s contest vs. The Citadel would be canceled.

Fritton had been primarily a Sunday, game three starter. He has tossed 49.1 innings over 12 games, including 9 starts, allowing 34 hits and 14 earned runs for a 2.55 ERA. He’s walked 17 and fanned 58. Fritton struck out the side after coming into a bases-loaded, no outs jam in the top of the ninth vs. North Carolina A&T on Tuesday.

Scouting Notre Dame

Notre Dame is 25-17 overall and 13-11 in the ACC in the first season under head coach Shawn Stiffler, who was hired away from Virginia Commonwealth. The Irish face NC State well rested and playing well.

Notre Dame has won 5 of 6 ACC games going into the series, and a midweek assignment vs. Bowling Green was canceled due to weather. During that stretch, the bats have come alive. In 4 of the 5 wins, the Irish have scored double digit runs.

Hitting had previously been a struggle for Notre Dame. The Irish have the worst team batting average in the ACC at .247 and average the second fewest runs per game at 6.1.

ACC Standings And Weekend Schedule

Atlantic Division

Team	Overall Record	Conference Record
Wake Forest	37-6	16-4
Boston College	29-13	13-10
Notre Dame	25-17	13-11
Clemson	28-17	11-10
Louisville	29-15	9-12
NC State	29-14	8-12
Florida State	15-28	6-18

Coastal Division

Team	Overall Record	Conference Record
Duke	31-13	14-9
Miami	28-16	14-10
Virginia	37-11	13-11
North Carolina	29-17	11-12
Virginia Tech	26-16	11-11
Pittsburgh	20-22	8-11
Georgia Tech	26-18	8-13

Weekend Series Schedule:

NC State at Notre Dame

Louisville at Clemson

Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech

Boston College at Wake Forest

Mercer at Florida State

Presbyterian at Miami

NC State Baseball In The Polls

USA Today Sports baseball coaches: Receiving votes (previously receiving votes)

NCBWA: Unranked (previously unranked)

Collegiate Baseball: Unranked (previously unranked)

Perfect Game: Unranked (previously unranked)

D1Baseball.com: Unranked (previously unranked)

Baseball America: Unranked (previously unranked)

Midweek Recap For NC State Baseball

NC State baseball has never lost to North Carolina A&T, but the Wolfpack had a close call Tuesday afternoon in Raleigh.

The Aggies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, a 2-run homer in the fifth gave North Carolina A&T a 5-2 advantage.

NC State senior outfielder Trevor Candelaria’s 2-run homer in the sixth, his second blast of the game, cut the lead to 5-4. Junior third baseman LuJames Groover III doubled home the tying run in the seventh, and then Groover provided the final fireworks, a two-out, solo home run to walk off a 6-5 win.