NC State baseball weekend recap: Pack drops ACC series

NC State baseball was one of three unbeaten teams left in the country entering the weekend. Like Alabama and Virginia, NC State suffered its first defeats. In the case of the Pack, it lost 2 of 3 at preseason ACC Coastal Division favorite Miami.

NC State rallied from allowing 8 runs in the bottom of the second in game one Friday to tie the score on a three-run homer from freshman catcher Cannon Peebles in the top of the seventh, but Miami answered with a solo blast in the bottom half for a 9-8 victory. That run proved to be the difference in the series.

Miami cruised to an 8-1 win Saturday, while the Pack crushed the Canes 14-4 in the series finale Sunday.

That left NC State with a 14-2 overall record and 1-2 mark in the conference.

ACC Standings And Weekend Results

Atlantic Division

Team	Overall Record	Conference Record
Boston College	12-2	2-1
Florida State	11-4	2-1
Wake Forest	15-2	2-1
NC State	14-2	1-2
Notre Dame	6-6	1-2
Clemson	10-6	0-0
Louisville	14-1	0-0

Coastal Division

Team	Overall Record	Conference Record
Georgia Tech	13-3	2-1
Miami	10-6	2-1
Virginia	14-1	2-1
Duke	10-6	1-2
North Carolina	12-5	1-2
Pittsburgh	8-8	1-2
Virginia Tech	12-4	1-2

Weekend Series Results:

Miami 2, NC State 1

Virginia 2, North Carolina 1

Florida State 2, Pittsburgh 1

Georgia Tech 2, Notre Dame 1

Boston College 2, Virginia Tech 1

Wake Forest 2, Duke 1

NC State Baseball In The Polls

Collegiate Baseball: 13th (down from 11th)

NCBWA: 20th (down from 15th)

USA Today Sports baseball coaches: 17th (down from 15th)

Perfect Game: 21st (down from 16th)

D1Baseball.com: 19th (down from 19th)

Baseball America: 24th (down from 21st)

At The Plate For NC State Baseball

NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent, who picked up career win number 1,200 on Sunday, is in the enviable position of having a pair of red-hot hitting catchers.

Peebles continues to excel in his debut season. He was 3 for 8 at the plate with a walk, a homer, 3 runs batted in (RBI) and 3 runs scored over the weekend. Meanwhile, sophomore Jacob Cozart was 4 for 7 at the plate with 2 walks and added a homer, a double, 4 RBI and 5 runs scored.

Thus far this season, Peebles is hitting an eye-popping .455 with 4 homers and 4 doubles in 33 at bats. He leads the team in batting average and slugging percentage (.939). He is tied for second in on-base percentage (.500) and homers.

Cozart is not far behind, batting .341 at the plate with 3 home runs and 5 doubles in 41 trips to the plate.

On The Mound

NC State pitchers were not helped by shaky fielding behind them. The Pack had 3 errors in each game of the series, committed by six different players. Three fielders had multiple errors over the weekend. That accounted for 8 unearned runs throughout the series, nearly half of the 18 that Miami plated.

However, Sunday saw the 1-2 punch of freshman lefty Dominic Fritton and junior righthander Sam Highfill shut down the Miami bats for 7, one-run innings. Fritton went 4.1 innings in the start, giving up just 3 hits and 2 walks while fanning 7. Highfill got the win after throwing the next 3.2 innings, allowing 3 hits and an unearned run while striking out 5.

Midweek Action Ahead For NC State Baseball

NC State is changing it up, for the first time not going with junior lefty P.J. Labriola as the primary midweek starter. Instead, sophomore righty Jacob Halford will get the nod Tuesday afternoon when the Pack hosts Elon for a 2 p.m. first pitch at Doak Field.

Halford will be making his season debut.

Elon is expected to counter with junior lefty Cole Reynolds, who will be getting his fourth straight start in a midweek game. Reynolds, who doubles as a first baseman for the Phoenix, has gone 5.0 innings in all of his appearances and has yet to allow more than 3 earned runs in a start this year. He has allowed 16 hits over 15.0 innings, walking 4 and striking out 10.

Elon was picked to finish seventh in the 11-team Colonial Athletic Association. They are 9-7 on the season and won its conference-opening series by taking 2 of 3 at home this past weekend from Northeastern, one of the league’s preseason favorites.

Against Power Five or ranked competition, Elon went 1-2 in the season-opening series vs. Kentucky at home and lost a 5-1 decision, also at home, to No. 12 East Carolina in a midweek tilt.