Baseball Update – Wake Comes to Town

04/07/2016WufpackerACC Teams Baseball NC State NC State Baseball17

It’s been a pretty good week for Wolfpack Baseball (20-9, 5-5 ACC). After a disappointing washout weekend in Tallahassee two weeks ago, this past weekend they went on the road and won a series vs defending Nat’l Champs UVa, the Pack’s first series win in Charlottesville since ’07.

Then last night they methodically went to work and took down a plucky Charlotte team for the 2nd time in just over a week to make it 4 wins in their last 5 outings.

Corey Wilder (#35,JR,RHP) took the home win vs Charlotte on six strong scoreless innings, scattering four hits along the way. More amazing still, he walked no one and hit no one. For a guy who has struggled with control more often than not, this was a huge outing for him. The win pushes his overall record to 1-1 on the season, and lowers his ERA to 5.73.

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Next Man Up

As I mentioned previously, Evan Mendoza (#18,SO,3B) and Stephen Pitarra (#7,SO,2B) have been huge for the Pack. Both have unexpectedly gotten meaningful time in the infield while some other guys try to work thru some offensive struggles, and both have been invaluable.

Well, this week it’s time to sing the praises of Brett Kinneman (#6,FR,LF). Kinneman was always going to be an important player for the Pack, but due to circumstance he’s gotten his chance earlier than expected. After a slow start he’s lifted his average to .368 on the season, and Wednesday vs Charlotte he had 3RBI and scored a run.

He also did this….

Trust me, that was harder than it looks. That ball was dying fast and his jump/judgement on it was perfect. Left Field may be his job to lose going forward.

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Speed Kills

The Pack’s speed in the field has been a tremendous plus defensively all along, but finally it seems that it’s paying off on the basepaths as well. It takes time to learn how to read a pitcher’s motion and steal bases, and the light seems to have come on for both Brock Deatherage (#13,SO,RF) and Josh McLain (#15,SO,CF). Each had two swipes last night vs Charlotte, with Deatherage actually choosing incorrectly on a pick off move and still beating out the throw from 1B to 2B.

As Trea Turner proved, causing havoc on the basepaths can be a big plus to get inside the opposition’s head, especially the pitcher. Hopefully this will become a trend.

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Wake Comes to Town

This weekend the 14th ranked Wolfpack welcomes Wake Forest(19-12, 5-7 ACC) to town for a three game series at the Doak. The Pack is playing well and this is a great opportunity to make some noise in the standings. But in spite of having won only a single series this season (Duke), Wake is no pushover.

With Louisville and Florida State hopefully pounding on one another this weekend (‘Ville, take 2 out of 3 please), the series with Wake takes on even more importance if the Pack hopes to edge themselves closer to the top teams in the division.

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Weekend Schedule

Friday 4/8, 6:30pm – ESPN3
Saturday 4/9, 6:30pm
Monday 4/11, 7pm – ESPNU*

*TAKE NOTE…no Sunday game. Game three is Monday and will be on REAL LIVE TEEVEE BOXES as ESPNU’s prime time game.

Elsewhere in the ACC this weekend

UVa at BC
GT at Pitt
(4)Louisville at (9)FSU
(12)Clemson at Duke
(3)Miami at ND
VT at (13)Carolina

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ACC Standings

Atlantic

Schools	Conf W-L-T	Conf PCT	W-L-T	PCT
Florida State	7-1-0	.875	20-7-0	.741
Louisville	9-3-0	.750	23-5-0	.821
Clemson	7-5-0	.583	22-7-0	.759
NC State	5-5-0	.500	20-9-0	.690
Notre Dame	6-6-0	.500	16-11-0	.593
Wake Forest	5-7-0	.417	19-12-0	.613
Boston College	3-7-0	.300	14-10-0	.583

Coastal

Schools	Conf W-L-T	Conf PCT	W-L-T	PCT
Miami	10-2-0	.833	24-4-0	.857
Georgia Tech	6-6-0	.500	22-7-0	.759
North Carolina	6-6-0	.500	21-8-0	.724
Virginia	6-6-0	.500	19-12-0	.613
Pitt	5-7-0	.417	13-12-0	.520
Duke	4-8-0	.333	15-14-0	.517
Virginia Tech	1-11-0	.083	10-20-0	.333

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In spite of the FSU series being a huge disappointment, and the Pack’s comeback bid falling short in the one game that WASN’T rained out…some good plays did happen….