Shorthanded NC State wins pair of top-15 series in a row, still working to get healthy

NC State has battled the injury bug the entire season, specifically within its starting pitching staff. The injuries started during preseason practices and have not let up since. 

The Wolfpack lost senior right-hander Matt Willadsen, the Pack’s Saturday starter a year ago to an elbow injury during the first week of practice. That limited NC State’s starting pitching depth, and forced the red and white to start freshman lefty Ryan Marohn on the opening weekend. 

While Willadsen’s injury was a blow NC State seemed to be able to withstand with a pair of veteran pitchers in Sam Highfill and Logan Whitaker — he began the year in the bullpen — that quickly changed. 

Highfill, the team’s Friday starter, missed a start with soreness and has not gone further than 3.1 innings in his last two appearances. Whitaker, meanwhile, has not thrown since March 29 as he battles an illness that has kept him off the field. 

Though NC State’s pitching rotation has taken a consistent blow, the Wolfpack owns series wins over then-No. 2 Clemson and No. 11 North Carolina in the last two weekends. 

“We’re still battling injuries and trying to get healthy,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said after taking two of three from the Tar Heels. “We’re fighting as hard as we can. Our guys fight their butts off. Obviously, that fight got them two wins this weekend against a team that’s that good. We just have to get healthy.”

NC State has won each of the first two games of the weekend against Clemson and North Carolina behind starts from Highfill and sophomore lefty Dominic Fritton. The final day of the series, however, has not been as fruitful with the lone loss of each weekend coming on the travel day.

While that has rung true in the Pack’s two marquee series victories, it has become a trend as it battles a depleted pitching staff. NC State is a combined 10-4 on the first two days of an ACC series, while it is just 2-5 in the weekend finale. 

The Wolfpack’s starting pitching depth has taken a toll, which in turn, has used more arms from the bullpen earlier in the weekend, including long reliever Shane Van Dam. That has left NC State without several key arms available on the final day of the series, and it has not led to consistent success.

Though NC State is battling a banged up pitching staff, Avent has learned a lot about his squad in the last two weeks. He knows they will not quit on him, though several freshmen and sophomores are playing key roles on the mound and in the batting order. 

“They fight, they play with a lot of heart,” Avent said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys that are doing everything they can. We’ve got a couple guys on the corners — [Garrett] Pennington and [Alec] Makarewicz — that give it everything they got. They’re both playing banged up and they’re kind of the rock of this team. They stabilize everything about this team with their professionalism and how they show up every day and how they go about their business. So you’ve got that stability and you’ve got a lot of young guys that are playing really hard and really well right now.”

While Pennington and Makarewicz are the heart of the Wolfpack’s offensive attack — clubbing a combined 31 doubles with 25 home runs and accounting for 92 RBI — the team has leaned on its young players. NC State’s injury woes are not confined to the pitching staff as senior outfielder Noah Soles has been out since March 29 after undergoing lower leg surgery.

In the meantime, the Pack’s less experienced players at the college level have come through.

Redshirt freshman catcher Drew Lanphere is hitting .294 in 26 appearances this season (16 starts either at catcher or as the designated hitter), while sophomore outfielder Eli Serrano III has been an every day stalwart in the lineup. Freshman second baseman Luke Nixon has played in all but six games this year, and dazzled in the field this past weekend against North Carolina. 

NC State has found ways to win games, especially a pair of come-from-behind victories over North Carolina. That has helped, despite dropping several midweek games, including an 11-7 loss in 12 innings to Campbell on Tuesday night. 

“The team’s rolling,” Pennington said earlier this week. “Sometimes we feel like we’re losing it during the midweeks — sometimes I think the midweeks give us some fire and get us going for the weekend. Clemson’s a good team, North Carolina’s a good team and we’re handling them like we should. We’re doing our jobs and doing pretty much everything we can do to win ball games.”

The Wolfpack is trying to get back to full strength, which Avent is hopeful could arrive soon. He mentioned NC State will “hopefully” have Soles and Whitaker “back soon.” The 28th-year coach said the staff is also working to get Highfill back to his old ways to give the Wolfpack more length in his starts on Friday night.

But for now, NC State is focused on what it has left in front of itself. That includes a trip to No. 9 East Carolina on Tuesday before wrapping ACC play with No. 8 Florida State, No. 10 Virginia and No. 12 Wake Forest after a three-game set with Ball State this coming weekend. 

“We’ve got a lot of good things going on,” Avent said. “Like I said, we’ve got to get some guys healthy and get some guys back. … [We’ll] see what happens down the stretch.”