CHAPEL HILL, N.C—It’s rivalry week time for the North Carolina baseball team. Thursday afternoon, the Carolina team bus will be rolling down I-40 to conclude the regular season with a showdown against the NC State Wolfpack.
What’s the deal over in Raleighwood?
Elliot Avent is back at it again, with series wins over Boston College, Notre Dame, Duke and Miami. But the last few weeks have been up and down including a series loss to Virginia Tech, a win against the visiting Miami Hurricanes and then a weekend loss in sunny California at the Sunken Diamond to Stanford.
Pear Ratings puts NC State as one of the last four teams in the bracket, with a 6-12 quad 1 record and No. 41 in RPI. A win against the No. 2 Tar Heels would be a huge resume boost for NC State.
Ty Head, Rett Johnson and Luke Nixon have been the standouts for the Wolfpack offense. The freshman Johnson is slashing .404/.512/.480 with 51 runs and 69 hits. Head is the power bat, smashing a team leading 13 homers while swiping 25 bags.
Nixon, son of Trot and cousin of Macon Winslow, has really come into his own at the plate this season. The second basemen recorded an OPS over 1.000 with eight homers and a 113 total bases. Other names to watch include Sherman Johnson, Chris McHugh and Mikey Ryan.
The pitching side is a bit more volatile for the Wolfpack. The injury to Jacob Dudan was a big blow to the State pitching staff, as he led in innings as well as appearances. Lefty Cooper Consiglio has been the go-to option for Friday, but he will not get the start against the Tar Heels as Heath Andrews will start on the mound. The rest of the rotation has been wishy washy (last weekend against Stanford the NC State game notes had “TBA” under Friday and Saturday). Ryan Marohn and Anderson Nance among others all return from last year.
On the other side, the No. 2 Tar Heels enter with all of their go-to arms ready to roll. Jason DeCaro, Ryan Lynch and Folger Boaz will continue their weekend roles while Walker McDuffie and Caden Glauber have full rest after not throwing on Tuesday.
The Tar Heels have been playing extremely well-rounded offense recently, with small ball (four sac bunts against Pitt), timely hitting and tapping into their power. The Tar Heels have won every ACC road series they have played this year—including sweeping two—and will be looking to do that again this weekend.
Plus, it's rivalry week, which always adds an extra layer of unpredictability and makes winning just that much sweeter.
As Gavin Gallaher said after the UNCW game...
"It's always fun playing in a good environment like that. None of them like us so it's definitely going to be a lot of fun and looking forward to competing."
What’s the deal over in Raleighwood?
Elliot Avent is back at it again, with series wins over Boston College, Notre Dame, Duke and Miami. But the last few weeks have been up and down including a series loss to Virginia Tech, a win against the visiting Miami Hurricanes and then a weekend loss in sunny California at the Sunken Diamond to Stanford.
Pear Ratings puts NC State as one of the last four teams in the bracket, with a 6-12 quad 1 record and No. 41 in RPI. A win against the No. 2 Tar Heels would be a huge resume boost for NC State.
Ty Head, Rett Johnson and Luke Nixon have been the standouts for the Wolfpack offense. The freshman Johnson is slashing .404/.512/.480 with 51 runs and 69 hits. Head is the power bat, smashing a team leading 13 homers while swiping 25 bags.
Nixon, son of Trot and cousin of Macon Winslow, has really come into his own at the plate this season. The second basemen recorded an OPS over 1.000 with eight homers and a 113 total bases. Other names to watch include Sherman Johnson, Chris McHugh and Mikey Ryan.
The pitching side is a bit more volatile for the Wolfpack. The injury to Jacob Dudan was a big blow to the State pitching staff, as he led in innings as well as appearances. Lefty Cooper Consiglio has been the go-to option for Friday, but he will not get the start against the Tar Heels as Heath Andrews will start on the mound. The rest of the rotation has been wishy washy (last weekend against Stanford the NC State game notes had “TBA” under Friday and Saturday). Ryan Marohn and Anderson Nance among others all return from last year.
On the other side, the No. 2 Tar Heels enter with all of their go-to arms ready to roll. Jason DeCaro, Ryan Lynch and Folger Boaz will continue their weekend roles while Walker McDuffie and Caden Glauber have full rest after not throwing on Tuesday.
The Tar Heels have been playing extremely well-rounded offense recently, with small ball (four sac bunts against Pitt), timely hitting and tapping into their power. The Tar Heels have won every ACC road series they have played this year—including sweeping two—and will be looking to do that again this weekend.
Plus, it's rivalry week, which always adds an extra layer of unpredictability and makes winning just that much sweeter.
As Gavin Gallaher said after the UNCW game...
"It's always fun playing in a good environment like that. None of them like us so it's definitely going to be a lot of fun and looking forward to competing."
