NC State’s season-opening doubleheader sweep over Fordham provides glimpse into Pack's power potential

Chris McHugh appeared to know it right away. An 85 mph off-speed pitch on the inner-half of the plate? That was quick work for NC State’s new first baseman, who brought his hands inside and sent the ball off the three-story batter’s eye in straight away center field. 

The VCU transfer launched the pitch 109 mph off the bat at a 22.41 degree angle, which allowed his blast to travel an estimated 436 feet on a 50-degree Friday afternoon at Doak Field.

That seemed to be a good sign of NC State being on its way of quelling any concern of if the team has enough power in its lineup this season. The Wolfpack lost 18 percent of its home runs and 26 percent of its RBI from last season’s team due to exhausted eligibility and the MLB Draft. 

But its Opening Day doubleheader run-rule sweep over Fordham with an 11-1 win in eight innings followed by a 12-2 victory showed the Pack does, indeed, have juice in its lineup via a mixture of returning and transfer portal talent. 

“Our pitching staff is second to none, but I think we’re going to hit a lot this year,” McHugh said with a smile. “It’s the first two games of the year, but it showed today. I think we’re going to be really good at hitting too.”

In game one, NC State relied on an RBI groundout and a pair of run-scoring singles to take an early 3-1 lead through the first five innings. But once the Wolfpack’s big bats found their stride, the game quickly broke open. Sophomore catcher Alex Sosa launched a two-run homer to left in the seventh, while McHugh uncorked his moonshot to center to put the Pack up by six — a more than comfortable lead. 

While it took a little while for NC State’s power to unleash in the opener, it was quick to continue the momentum in the second game of the young 2025 campaign. Vanderbilt transfer Matt Ossenfort laced a line-drive two-run homer to right, which left the park at 107 mph, in the bottom of the first. Two frames later, the Wolfpack scored four more runs on a pair of doubles from freshman outfielder Ty Head and sophomore second baseman Luke Nixon.

In all, NC State scored 23 runs on 21 total hits as it revved its engine at the plate to begin the new season.

Even though the Wolfpack hit the ball well as a collective group, McHugh impressed in his NC State debut. It marked 364 days since he played in his first college on this very field, and just like the first baseman was able to find success at the plate with VCU at the time, he appeared comfortable in his new confines. 

The Commack, N.Y., native led the Wolfpack’s offense through the entire doubleheader as he went 4-for-5 with five runs scored, a home run, three walks and three RBI. 

“First couple games of the year, you never know what to expect,” McHugh said. “Being able to swing it like I did today, it builds confidence for the rest of the year. It’s big.”

While McHugh paced the Wolfpack’s red-hot offense, NC State coach Elliott Avent cautioned against taking too much away from an early-season offensive showing. Instead, he wants to see the hitting success become a consistent trend as the season progresses.

“I never think about the offense early in the season,” said Avent, who kicked off his 29th season at the helm of the Pack. “I think offense is always behind pitching early in the year. Offense is a thing that’s hard to be consistent with in baseball, you may get to that point and you may not, but early in the year I just try to think about quality at-bats.”

The Pack had plenty of quality at-bats against the Rams. San Diego transfer shortstop Justin DeCriscio was among NC State’s top hitters in that department. He was able to work counts in nearly every trip to the plate with two walks and a pair of hit by pitches across the two games. 

As NC State continues to move on from its dominating wins over Fordham, the Wolfpack hopes the momentum only grows. But for now the Pack is pleased with its performance against another team for the first time since its College World Series appearance last June. 

“It’s finally nice to compete against someone else,” Nixon said. “We’re doing things we’re supposed to be doing and everything’s going great right now.”