The N.C. State baseball team will begin its season today when it hosts William and Mary at 2 p.m. for the first of a three-game series at Doak Field. The teams agreed to move the start time from 3 p.m. to 2 p.m. yesterday, in an effort to play during the warmest part of the day. Saturday’s game is also at 2 p.m., while Sunday’s is slated to start at 1:30 p.m.
The Wolfpack, ranked No. 28 nationally in Baseball America, lost all but two defensive infielders from a year ago, and according to coach Elliott Avent, the team will look to identify its best defensemen early in the season.
“At times, everyone has caught our eyes, but it is a bit of a ‘What do you do there,’ situation” Avent said. “We have to find the right combination. What can a guy do? How does he react in certain situations? We have to find out who can do what. But at times, they’ve all shown it.”
Senior catcher Caleb Mangum and junior Ramon Corona are the two returning players from last season. Mangum won’t be ready to play for another couple of weeks while he nurses an ankle injury, leaving the preseason All-American second baseman Corona as the lone returning starter in the infield.
But Avent has confidence in the third year player.
“You’ve got a guy who has been there — he’s a veteran. Not only that, he’s been All-ACC two years in a row,” Avent said. “I give that a lot more credence than any preseason All-American poll. This guy’s two-time All-ACC, and that doesn’t happen to everybody — not in this league.”
Sophomore Drew Martin, who the Pack was counting on this season to play shortstop, won’t be 100 percent this season, according to his coach.
“No, it’s the kind of thing where he’s got an injury that’s probably not going to go away — he’s going to have to play with it this year,” Avent said. “We’re going to have to decide when we’re going to use him and where we’re going to use him.”
Avent is, however, excited about his pitching staff. He said his rotation is the strongest it’s been in his 10 years as coach at State. Junior right-hander Andrew Brackman will pitch today, while sophomore lefty Eric Surkamp and redshirt junior right-hander Jeff Stallings will pitch Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The 6-foot-4-inch Stallings spent all of last year rehabilitating from Tommy John’s surgery, but was drafted in the 18th round of the MLB Draft nevertheless.
“Friday through Sunday, since I’ve been here at N.C. State, has never been in better hands. And I’ll take that a step further — Friday through Sunday and Tuesday have never been in better hands,” Avent said. “And the bullpen, even though we have a bunch of closers, we feel it’s in pretty good hands.”
This weekend the Pack faces a William and Mary team picked to finish ninth of 11 in its conference by the Colonial Athletics Association.
“Unless you’ve done some research, you and I know the same about William and Mary,” he said. “We know they are from Williamsburg, Virginia. We know we probably aren’t going to beat them in a spelling contest — But William and Mary believes in athletics, and they’ll have a good baseball team — you better believe it.”
