13th ranked Wolfpack Baseball (16-7, 3-3 ACC) hits the road for their first ACC road series of the season. The Pack will celebrate Easter in Tallahassee this weekend while facing 11th ranked Florida State (17-5, 5-1 ACC) in a three game series Friday thru Sunday.
FSU currently sits atop the ACC Atlantic standings, a place they’ve become accustomed to over the years, tied with surprising Clemson. NC State is two games back, with sole possession of 4th.
With (12)Clemson on the road at (7)Miami this weekend, a series win at FSU could go a long way towards getting the Pack back where it needs to be.
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Up ’til Now (in 3 paragraphs or less)
After the Pack’s opening day shutout loss to ODU, they went on a tear winning 12 of their next 13. Since then it has quite literally been an up and down ride, as the Pack has alternated a single win/loss every other game since BC came to town.
After BC came to town and took our candy 2 games out of 3 in the opening ACC series of the year at home, a two game split with Indiana State followed, then a 2 out of 3 series win vs Notre Dame. The most recent down on the seesaw was a road loss at UNC-W this past Tuesday.
The good news is that if this pattern holds (it will not), the Pack will come home with a series win in Tallahassee for the first time in…a long time. Then lose to Charlotte, then take the UVa series, then lose to Charlotte again…etc. etc. Like I said, that is an unlikely pattern to continue, but I’d trade two losses to Charlotte for road series wins at both FSU and UVa. Just saying.
(I think I’m rambling now so I’ll shut up about all of that…does this count as a paragraph? Awww crap….so sue me.)
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Surprises (Offense Version)
Evan Mendoza (#18,SO,INF) and Stephen Pitarra (#7,SO,INF) have both been solid in the infield as well as better than expected at the plate. This is good because Ryne Willard (#8,SR,INF) has begun the year with a hella slump unfortunately, and Xavier LeGrant (#2,FR,INF), after an early offensive flurry seems to have hit his sophomore doldrums early. LeGrant will be fine in the long term, but Pitarra being able to man 2B and while hitting well is an unexpected plus.
Surprises (Pitching Version)
While starters Joe O’Donnell (#41,JR,RHP) and Brian Brown (#38,SO,LHP) have performed as expected, it has been the emergence of Ryan Williamson (#28,JR,LHP) as a starter which has been the real bright spot. Williamson is currently 4-0 with a 2.52ERA in 25IP.
Out of the bullpen it’s mostly been the usual suspects (Orwig, Gilbert, DeJuneas, et al) but Cary native Chris Williams(#27,SR,RHP) has become as much of a go to as any of them. The redshirt senior is 2-0 and has yet to yield a run in 13.2IP.
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This Weekend’s Schedule
NCSU at FSU
- 3/25 Friday 6:00pm ESPN3
- 3/26 Saturday 6:00pm ESPN3
- 3/27 Sunday 12:30pm ESPN3
Also this weekend:
- BC at Pitt
- ND at VT
- (16)UVa at (9)Louisville
- Duke at Wake
- GT at (4)Carolina
- (12)Clemson at (7)Miami
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Standings
Atlantic
| Schools | Conf W-L-T | Conf PCT | W-L-T | PCT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clemson | 5-1-0 | .833 | 17-3-0 | .850 | |
| Florida State | 5-1-0 | .833 | 17-5-0 | .773 | |
| Louisville | 4-2-0 | .667 | 17-4-0 | .810 | |
| NC State | 3-3-0 | .500 | 16-7-0 | .696 | |
| Boston College | 3-4-0 | .429 | 13-6-0 | .684 | |
| Wake Forest | 2-4-0 | .333 | 14-9-0 | .609 | |
| Notre Dame | 2-5-0 | .286 | 10-10-0 | .500 |
Coastal
| Schools | Conf W-L-T | Conf PCT | W-L-T | PCT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 5-2-0 | .714 | 18-3-0 | .857 | |
| Miami | 4-2-0 | .667 | 17-4-0 | .810 | |
| Virginia | 4-2-0 | .667 | 16-6-0 | .727 | |
| Georgia Tech | 4-3-0 | .571 | 17-4-0 | .810 | |
| Pitt | 2-5-0 | .286 | 9-9-0 | .500 | |
| Duke | 1-5-0 | .167 | 10-11-0 | .476 | |
| Virginia Tech | 1-6-0 | .143 | 10-13-0 | .435 |
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Oh….and Josh McLain ain’t been too bad either…..
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I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the passing of one of baseball’s legends this past week. The loss of Joe Garagiola, who passed away at the age of 90 on Wednesday, is a pretty big deal to those of us who love baseball and grew up with his voice.
Joe, you will be missed.
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Go Pack!!!!
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