The Pack, 17-12 (5-7 in ACC), returns to Doak Field at Dail Park Tuesday at 6 p.m., where it will take on rival East Carolina.
State is 8-0 in games played during the week, but the Pirates will be gunning for the Wolfpack, which beat them by a score of 8-6 last season in Greenville.
The Pirates come into Tuesday with a record of 20-7 and will be looking to bounce back after dropping two of three games to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in its weekend series. ECU has established itself as one of the more consistent college baseball programs in the country and the matchup between these two teams is always highly anticipated.
“ECU is always big,” sophomore infielder Matt Bergquist said. “We took it to them last year, so I’m sure they’re going to be coming for us.”
The Pack will be riding a wave of momentum going into Tuesday’s matchup, coming off of its second consecutive ACC series victory. After taking two of three from the nationally ranked Clemson Tigers two weekends ago, the Pack looked shaky in its series opener against Wake Forest Friday, but recovered by rallying to win the next two.
Sophomore infielder Chris Diaz led the way in Saturday’s victory, going 3-3 with a homerun and three RBIs. He drove in the game-tying and eventual game-winning run to give State the 6-4 edge. The offense scored in every inning but one, batted around twice and collected 17 hits in a 17-5 win.
The Wolfpack has struggled offensively for the most part this season, but Sunday’s offensive outburst was an encouraging sign for head coach Elliot Avent.
“Our pitch selection…hitting what we wanted to hit, not chasing pitches early, getting into hitters counts…our two-strike approach and the ability to get pitches that we could handle made the difference,” Avent said.
With the lack of an established starting rotation, the bullpen has come up big for the Pack this season, and the coaching staff will ask someone to step up on Tuesday when it decides the starting pitcher. Sophomore Ethan Ogburn was scheduled to start, but he threw four 2/3 innings in Sunday’s game, picking up the win in the process.
Coming into this past weekend, the bullpen had posted a 9-2 record with a 3.53 earned run average and four saves through 99 1/3 innings and four State relievers have ERAs lower than 2.57.
Junior Grant Sasser and senior Brandon Price have been especially stingy out of the pen. Price has come in three separate occasions with the bases loaded this season and has not allowed an inherited runner to score, and Sasser leads the team with a miniscule 1.10 ERA.
Offensively, there are a couple players in particular to watch for the Wolfpack. After getting off to a slow start, Bergquist has come on strong, hitting .429 (12-for-28) with six doubles and 11 RBIs in his last nine games. Also, junior catcher/infielder Pratt Maynard has an 11-game hit streak that he extended on Sunday with a pair of RBI singles. Maynard has hit .350 (14 for 40) during the stretch.
Already past the halfway mark of the season, the Pack still has some questions to answer but seems to be coming around after a slow start.
“We’re not playing as well as we can play yet. There’s no question we aren’t playing up to our capabilities, but we are playing better and we are getting better,” Avent said. “As long as they are working together as a team, that’s the first step in the right direction.”
State is gaining ground in the ACC standings, sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division behind Florida State.
“It’s always a big game… It’s a rivalry,” Diaz said. “It’s always something you look forward to.”
