Junior shortstop Renada Davis and senior second baseman Chelsea Tate attempt to turn a double play during a 5-2 win over Virginia March 1." />
File/Technician
Junior shortstop Renada Davis and senior second baseman Chelsea Tate attempt to turn a double play during a 5-2 win over Virginia March 1.
With the academic year almost finished and intense studying underway, it is time to analyze N.C. State athletics and assess the current State of the Pack.
Baseball
When it rains, it pours. It’s official, the N.C. State baseball team is in a genuine rut.
After dropping two-of-three in Durham to Tobacco Road rival Duke, including the series finale after holding a six-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Wolfpack had its much-anticipated showdown versus UNC-Chapel Hill rained out Tuesday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The schools are pursuing a make-up date but nothing is official at this time.
Baseball is a game that has a way of producing slumps that defy odds and sometimes even logic. N.C. State has been a weak hitting team in 2014 but when the Wolfpack has scored runs, such as final games in series at Florida State and Maryland in March, the pitching has then let the team down.
This is much worse than the tough start the Pack went through last season before righting the ship and earning a berth to the College World Series. State still has the potential to turn it around and a schedule that is accommodating. The next 15 games for Elliott Avent’s team are at Doak Field, including the next nine ACC games. At 20-15 overall and 6-12 in the ACC, N.C. State cannot afford to wait much longer to get going.
Softball
Things are much better for the N.C. State softball team. The defending ACC Tournament champions are 26-12 overall, including a 19-1 mark at Dail Stadium, and 12-4 in the ACC.
Last season, the Pack picked up steam late in what head coach Shawn Rychick labeled “a magic carpet ride.” State is actually much better off record-wise in 2014. With the experience of winning a championship and a solid group of upperclassmen, the team undoubtedly has the confidence as it enters the final dozen games of the campaign, beginning with a doubleheader on Wednesday at home against UNC-Wilmington.
Ironically, it could end up being a group of freshmen who make the difference and take the Pack to a higher level over the remainder of the campaign. Freshman pitcher Courtney Mirabella pitched her first collegiate no-hitter in her last outing on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., against Florida A&M. Mirabella’s play gives Rychick options in postseason play that he did not have last season. Add to that the pleasant play from freshman catcher Molly Hutchinson at the plate (.269 average, eight homers, 29 RBIs) and it is not hard to imagine N.C. State being a tough team to beat in the NCAA Tournament.
Football
The Kay Yow Spring Game was once again a success in that more than $15,000 was raised for cancer research. There are ACC schools that barely out-draw in regular season games the attendance N.C. State had on Saturday. It is hard not to wonder what the Pack will look like not only in the coming fall but during the next two seasons as Dave Doeren puts his stamp on the program.
Former quarterback Russell Wilson, along with former linebacker Nate Irving, had his number honored by the University during the game. In the press conference prior to kickoff, Wilson said that State was similar to a SEC school in its dedication to football and that was something that most appealed to him during his recruitment. It would be interesting to see what the atmosphere would look like around Carter-Finley Stadium and campus should the Pack ever set itself up to compete for a conference title or major bowl berth.