The No. 8 Wolfpack baseball team once again has come out of the gate hot as fire. After winning three games in Minnesota against Big 10 opposition, NC State (11-0) is right where it wants to be before ACC play starts this weekend. However, what could be more important than its record currently, is that head coach Elliott Avent has found his ace, junior left-handed pitcher Nick Swiney.
Spending much of his first two years at NC State coming out of the bullpen, Swiney showed flashes of brilliance pitching multiple innings at a time. However, inconsistency prevented the Huntersville native from becoming the go-to guy out of the pen. Avent took a chance by giving Swiney the ball on opening day, and the lefty has not looked back.
In three starts this year, Swiney is undefeated with a .86 ERA, pitching 21 innings, allowing only two earned runs, and striking out 37 batters while walking just four. His 37 strikeouts currently leads the ACC. In his last start against Purdue, Swiney pitched eight innings striking out 15 batters and allowing only one hit.
In this game Swiney was the first Wolfpack pitcher since Carlos Rodon in April 2014, who is now a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, to fan 15 batters in one game. Rodon is regarded as one of the greatest pitchers under Avent, and to be put into the same category as him is saying something.
Listed at 6-foot-3-inches and 187 pounds, Swiney is as efficient as any pitcher in the ACC. He is going to attack the zone from the get-go with a three-pitch arsenal. He starts off with his fastball that sits 91-94 MPH and then proceeds to make batters look silly all day long with his filthy breaking ball, and his excellent changeup. Using his plethora of pitches, Swiney has struck out 11 batters or more in each of his three starts to begin the season.
With the rate at which Swiney is striking out batters, to go along with a combined .119 batting average opponents have on him, it is fair to say that Swiney is pretty good at missing bats. He has only given up eight hits so far, with only two being extra-base hits.
An underrated part of Swiney’s game is his pickoff move to first base. Being a lefty obviously gives him an advantage, but he has showcased his excellent move multiple times when a runner has got on base so far this season fooling the runner and the first base coach.
One of the most important things for a team to have to make a run to Omaha, which is ultimately where NC State wants to be come June, is to have a dominant force on the mound. For example, last year’s College World Series champion Vanderbilt had Kumar Rocker as its ace. He shined all year long, including a 19-strikeout no-hitter performance in an elimination game against Duke in the Super Regionals.
There is lots of great pitching talent in the ACC Swiney will likely go up against on Friday nights in the ACC, such as Reid Detmers (Louisville), Sam Weatherly (Clemson), and Bryce Jarvis (Duke). These matchups will be huge chances for Swiney to shine under the brightest lights and provide consistency for the Wolfpack pitching staff. It will also be big for his future MLB draft stock that he will be eligible to enter this year.
Junior right-handed pitcher Reid Johnston who is slowly making his way back from illness, proved last year that he could be No. 2 when healthy. With Swiney and Johnston going out on back-to-back nights, NC State has just as good as starting pitching as anybody in the ACC.
Swiney will get his first taste of ACC opposition this weekend on the road at Virginia, where he will likely get the ball Friday. First pitch will be at 4 p.m., with the game being streamed live online via the ACC Network Extra. If you haven’t got a chance to see him pitch this year, I would advise you to tune in, because he is a rare talent NC State is lucky to have.
